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At Perth’s recent Town council meeting, councillors authorized increasing their cash-in-lieu parking fees from $5,000 per space to $10,000.
Developers can request a reduction in the number of required spaces through this system.
The current regulations require two spaces per single detached home, or semi-detached, or duplex, or town-house.
Apartment buildings, triplexes, and stacked town-homes, have a minimum of 1.5 units per unit.
One-bedroom dwellings need one space each and senior citizens apartments require 0.25 spaces per unit. Providing cash-in-lieu relief is up to council.
Planning staff provided some comparative fees to council showing that Carleton Place charges $6,000 per space, Mississippi Mills has a rate of $3,000 per, and Smiths Falls levies only $750 per space.
They also reported the true cost of creating a parking stall at $40,000 each and more if it was part of a parking garage.
Staff indicated setting a higher rate would act as a deterrent to keep developers from asking for parking relief in the first place.
Councillor Isabel Anne McRae suggested using collected funds to investigate more downtown parking while councillor Boldt said those revenues should be used to help resolve the parking problems in the neighbourhoods where the development occurs. McRae said she would forward her request to staff to prepare a report for future committee discussion.
Story by Brian Turner
