Recreation idea sparks council interest
While dreams of a temporary parking lot on the old Taylor Field site died with a defeated motion before city council, ideas of a temporary recreation spot instead were born.
“If the motion before me here was to see if we could temporarily transform that spot to recreation, a skating rink or golf field or a soccer pitch, … I’m in. But if it’s parking, I’m afraid that at this point in time that’s not something I can support,” said Ward 8 Coun. Mike O’donnell.
It was an idea that perked the ears of at least five fellow councillors resulting in a six-five defeat of Ward 10 Coun. Jerry Flegel’s motion to pursue temporary parking options.
“I would like to see that area used for recreation purposes,” Ward 1 Coun. Barbara Young said during the debate at Monday’s city council meeting. “I think there would be a lot things that could be there.”
Young voiced concern about how more parking might negatively impact transit ridership and that it would go against the city’s policy of not having more surface parking lots downtown.
Flegel disagreed. He said if a temporary recreation facility was built, the community would begin to doubt whether or not the affordable housing promised for that spot would actually happen.
The land is earmarked for phase three of the Railyard Revitalization
Initiative, which the city has said is still 15 to 20 years away, partially due to a slowing economy and the city’s reliance on private contractors to make that dream a reality.
“The best year we had for public transit to the Rider games was 9,000 people per game,” he added. With a stadium capacity of 33,000, he said that leaves the majority of attendees needing a place to park.
“It’s a good use of land that we can do as service to the people that want to come to Evraz,” he said.
The defeated motion asked administration to bring forward a report to the Public Works and Infrastructure committee by the end of 2019 that details the cost, options, implications, construction timeline and potential revenue that could be generated by restoring the site into an interim parking lot.
The report itself would cost anywhere between $20,000 and $30,000 to complete, which would include a geotechnical survey, traffic impact assessment, a topographical study, and a pre-design, but would be an important step for administration to take if it were to make a well-informed recommendation to council, said Barry Lacey, executive director of financial strategy and sustainability for the city.
“The potential costs that we have heard to restore that site to a temporary parking solution vary quite widely,” said Lacey.
On the lower end, the city has been given informal quotes between $30,000 and $50,000 and on the higher end, upwards of half a million dollars.
The report and accompanying research would give administration a better idea of what the true costs would be if council wanted to pursue the idea.
Flegel argued a parking fee of $5 or $10 would cover the cost of the report after just two major events in the area, and even said a portion of the land could still be used for something like a hockey rink, but other councillors were apprehensive about dishing out that kind of dough when there might be a better short-term use for the land.
“I’m stuck on the fact that we have spent an awful lot of time trying to train people to ride transit,” said O’donnell. “For me, it’s a little bit more about increasing transit and working towards that whole notion of alternative methods of transport to get to the core of our city.”
That said, the vote was still close. Councillors Flegel, Bresciani, Findura, Hawkins and Mayor Fougere voted in favour, while councillors Young, Bryce, O’donnell, Mancinelli, Murray and Stevens voted against.
Council did not move an amendment to have administration look at recreation options instead of a parking lot, but left the door open for future motions to that effect.