BCSEA Kamloops Chapter Speaks Up on Parkade Proposal

The Kamloops Chapter has recently taken a public stand against a parkade that the City of Kamloops is considering at our city’s loveliest park. Our steering committee developed a position statement and presented our concerns to City Council at their meeting Tuesday January 18. See the what happened at the meeting and the Position Statement below.

Press Release Kamloops, BC - January 20, 2011

Kamloops City Council unanimously supported the idea of including discussion about alternative transportation in the upcoming consultation process for the proposed Lorne Street parkade. The expanded mandate came as a result of the presentation made at Tuesday’s council meeting by Cheryl Kabloona and Gisela Ruckert, chair and vice-chair of the local chapter of the BC Sustainable Energy Association (BCSEA).

“We really want to see dialogue on other strategies to solving the downtown parking shortage,” says Kabloona. “At first glance, a parkade seems to be the obvious solution, but we think the City can address the parking issue and make significant progress on its sustainability targets at the same time by coming at it from a different angle.”

“Cars don’t create a vibrant downtown, people do,” says Kabloona. “We need to be more forward-thinking in the way we move people around. Cars are the average household’s greatest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. And bike lanes and improved transit service better serve the one-third of our population that doesn’t drive.”

The Sustainable Kamloops Plan, adopted by Council August 31, 2010, calls for

• Working with major employer to promote alternative transportation for commuter trips,
• Increasing transit ridership by 50%, and
• Reducing community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2020.

Kabloona and Ruckert stressed that better alternative transportation will move the Ctiy forward on these commitments in addition to addressing the parking shortage. They gave examples of strategies that were successfully implemented in Boulder, Colorado, a city that faced similar challenges.

“We are aware that some strategies have been tried in Kamloops, with rather unspectacular results,” says Ruckert. “It’s time to do our homework and figure out what it will take to get buy-in, and this public consultation process is a great time to start the discussion.”

“We’re pleased that the City has agreed to use the parkade consultation process as a way to gather public input on alternative transportation and what residents would like to see in that area,” says Kabloona.

Members of the BCSEA will be asking some tough questions about the parkade plans.

• From a cost/benefit point of view, is the parkade the best “bang for our buck” when compared with a similar investment in alternative transportation?
• Will the plans report on the costs per new stall, given that we already have 140 stalls currently in that location?
• Will the facility need to be subsidized by taxpayers? What will that amount to in total and for each new stall?
• How many stalls will be available for short-term parking vs. monthly stall rentals for all-day parking?
• If downtown employees will be the main users, will downtown employers share in construction costs?

Kamloops BCSEA members encourage City Council and the Kamloops community to hold fast to the Sustainable Kamloops vision. By making transit, cycling, walking and car-pooling easier to do, we not only free up parking spaces for those who really need their cars, we accomplish a host of other goals. These include better health, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved air quality, lower per capita transportation costs, fairness to those who don’t drive and increased community resiliency as fuel costs rise.

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BCSEA Kamloops Chapter

Position on the Proposed Lorne Street Parkade

January 12, 2011

The BC Sustainable Energy Association (BCSEA) works for a future powered by clean and renewable energy, respecting the environment and the needs of humans and other species both now and in the future. Our vision of a sustainable community recognizes the importance of a vibrant downtown core to our city’s social and economic well-being. We’d like to offer our comments on the City’s proposed Lorne Street parkade and suggest that alternatives be considered. We maintain that:

• the need for a parkade has not been adequately researched or demonstrated,
• more far-sighted solutions are available and
• the proposal is in conflict with commitments that were made just a few months ago when Council approved the Sustainable Kamloops Plan.

(1) The need for a new parkade downtown has not been adequately researched or demonstrated.

Where is the evidence that this parkade is needed? Has a study been conducted to examine whether there is, in fact, a “downtown parking problem” and whether added parking spaces in the proposed location will prove to be the best solution?

We therefore call on the City of Kamloops to undertake a comprehensive and transparent parking study to determine if the facility is actually needed.

(2) More far-sighted solutions are available.

Cars don’t create a vibrant downtown. People do. We would re-frame the question from “Where should we put the parkade?" to "How can we keep our downtown accessible and thriving?"

In choosing a parkade, Council is foregoing other options which may be better in the long run. We appreciate the progress that is being made on transit improvements and the bicycle master plan. We suggest further measures to support the downtown core such as

• better transit service,
• incentives for downtown workers to use alternative transportation and
• improved bike and pedestrian access.

These could be less costly than the proposed parkade and would relieve some of the parking demand, freeing up parking spaces for those who need their cars.

We should also recognize the unique location and long-term value of that particular piece of property. By building a parkade at Riverside Park, we are giving up its potential for other uses such as an expansion of green space.

We therefore call on the City of Kamloops to review alternative strategies in comparison to the proposed parkade, analyzing their long-term social, economic, and environmental impacts.

(3) The proposal is in direct conflict with recent City commitments.

Last fall, Mayor and Council adopted the Sustainable Kamloops Plan and approved it as the vision statement for our Official Community Plan. The plan commits to increases in transit ridership and other modes of alternative transportation, and to deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions city-wide.

Building this parkade takes us in the opposite direction. It perpetuates our dependence on fossil-fueled personal vehicles, the average household’s greatest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. What we need to do is make it easier for people to get downtown by means other than their cars. We have the perfect opportunity to keep the downtown thriving while at the same time making progress on our sustainability commitments.

We call upon Mayor and Council to adhere to the Sustainable Kamloops Plan and implement alternatives to the parkade that are in keeping with this commitment.

Conclusion Kamloops BCSEA members believe that there are many reasons why alternatives make more sense than building a parkade at our City’s cherished Riverside Park. These include lower greenhouse gas emissions, increased community resiliency as fuel costs rise, better air quality, lower per capita transportation costs, and social equity - for the one-third of our population that doesn’t drive. A forward-thinking community like Kamloops should be able to find creative ways to help people get downtown conveniently without their cars.

We have questions that we hope the public consultation will be able to answer.

• What is the percentage of downtown parking spaces allocated for monthly use vs. short-term parking, and what is the usage rate of each?
• What percentage of City staff and other downtown workers use alternative transportation to get to work, and how does that compare with other cities and with our own targets?
• What incentives have been offered to downtown workers to use alternative transportation and what have been the results?
• Has the City considered a partnership program with downtown businesses to offer free transit passes to workers?
• If built, would full cost accounting principles apply over the lifetime of the parkade?
• Would parkade users bear the full cost, or would there be a public subsidy of these parking spaces?

In closing, we remind the Mayor and Council of their legacy to our community. Will they be remembered for approving a parkade at our City’s signature park, or will they be seen as early leaders on the path to a sustainable community that will be prosperous and healthy far into the future?

CONTACT: Cheryl Kabloona, Chair

Gisela Ruckert, Vice-Chair

BCSEA Kamloops Chapter

Telephone: 250-318-6483

Email: kamloops@bcsea.org