Email from Patrick Simonian Re: Finding a sustainable and proactive solution for parking
A resident of 301 Nursery Hill Dr shares concerns about the 1.06 parking stall per unit ratio in their building.
From: Patrick S Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 8:54 AM To: Engineering E@viewroyal.ca Cc: Mayor And Council Email mayorandcouncil@viewroyal.ca
Finding a sustainable and proactive solution for parking for the residents of Nursery Hill Dr. and the 6 Mile Rd/Thetis area
To the View Royal Engineering Team, Council and Leadership,
Good Morning, my name is Patrick Simonian and I am a resident of the Nursery Heights Development located at 301 Nursery Hill Dr. The reason I am writing to you today is regarding concerns involving a few recent developments that I have had the misfortune of having to deal with over the past few weeks. The primary concern being the lack of parking availability in my area.
To provide some background, I live with my older brother and we both own vehicles. Our building, for some reason, was designed and approved with a serious lack of parking spaces for its size. The building has 66 units, 39 of which are 2 bedroom units. The amount of parking available is approximately 1 living unit:1.06 parking stalls. Essentially, one parking spot per unit. The lack of parking spaces can be thought of as a deficiency, a deficiency that was scarcely communicated in the slightest to us as tenants by either the Developer or the Rental Management Company. To be clear, I am not writing to vent out about that issue, but rather trying to find a proactive solution to the woes of many tenants from our building, as well as tenants of the new condo's being put up in the area in the near future.
I was given a couple of warnings by Mr. Mark Groulx for violating the 'Residential Parking' by-law earlier last week. I had been parking my car on Chilco Rd. which is adjacent to Nursery Hill Drive. Mr. Groulx was a delightful person to speak to when I was clearing that situation up. He explained the definition of 'residential parking' and also provided a couple of work arounds.
These work arounds were to:
A) Park at the top of Chilco Rd. which is approximately 0.8km away in a tucked away residential neighbourhood.
B) Park at the bottom of Atkins Rd. by the CRD park and ride.
These two work arounds have several pitfalls and are clearly not sustainable solutions for anyone living in the area, let alone my self. Besides being incredibly inconvenient, they are bandaids to a larger problem.
Work around A firstly is atop of quite a large hill. This would be troublesome for people with mobility issues. In addition, it is a residential neighbourhood. Without much speculation, we could imagine if this suggested resolution was utilized as a long term one, the residents of upper Chilco Rd may have something to say about it.. I am sure Mr. Groulx could expect more calls at that point. The one benefit to this area is that it is clearly a safer place to leave a vehicle overnight.
Work around B is less than ideal. Firstly, the area is a hotspot for Park and Ride vehicles who need/use that service for its intended use (including parking on the shoulder of Atkins Rd). By 8 AM the entire CRD parking lot (as well as the shoulder of Atkins Rd) is completely full with cars that should be using the space for its intended use. If I park there I am now moving the problem over to, 'now there is not a place for me as a commuter/ cyclist to park and ride'. In addition, this location is in an area that is quite secluded, not well lit, and with minimal traffic. It is not a place that keeps ones mind at peace when leaving a vehicle there unattended for extended periods of time.
So I am writing to you today to get the ball rolling on some type of solution. This would be for the tenant of 301 Nursery Hill dr, for future residents of the expanding area and as well as myself. I am not an engineer and so I do not claim to comprehend the far reaching impacts of any changes, but something should happen. Let us work together on a solution that will show how View Royal attends to its residents; how View Royal is proactive in solving problems; how View Royal cares. We are proud to be apart of the community here. Our commutes to work have increased three fold, migrating from Esquimalt to View Royal, but the community here was worth it.
I understand that this could be a lengthy process, I work for government myself and so I understand the time lines and the logistics of making change. In the mean time, I humbly ask for leniency in regards to parking my vehicle as well as the other tenants of 301 Nursery Hill to park on Chilco Rd.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
Sincerely Patrick Simonian
PS: I'm happy to work with the Engineering Team, as well as the View Royal Leadership in creating a solution. You may contact me a this email address and or my phone, .