Parkland or Parking…What do you want?

 

Should we redevelop our downtown parking lot to include a community-gathering place as an extension of our Fairy Lake Park and trail system? Doing so would change the availability of parking somewhat and has raised some concerns.

 

You may recall that Newmarket Council received a Build Canada Grant of about $4 million to revitalize our downtown community space and we are now in the process of developing the design. A community meeting was held on November 17, 2009 to outline the preliminary design concept. There was a good turnout from our downtown residents and merchants with a number of perspectives brought forward and in the end, two themes emerged.

 

Generally, people were excited about the concept of having a community-gathering place for activities like the Farmers Market, the proposed outdoor skating rink with a water feature for children’s activities in the summer and the extension of Fairy Lake Park northerly to expand the trail system.

 

A number of people expressed their concerns about the impact the project would have on the availability of parking, both for events planned as well as for the customers of our Main Street merchants. In retrospect, we could have done a better job of outlining our approach to parking availability at the community meeting.   In order to better address the concerns that were raised, one meeting has already taken place with a group of concerned merchants and as well, a further general public meeting was held on January 5, 2010.

 

A traffic consultant has been engaged to review our overall downtown parking requirements for spaces available to meet current needs as well as the growth planned for the mid to long term future.

 

The net on-site impact of the proposed design is a reduction of 22 parking spaces from the current inventory to 173. The shortfall is further reduced by 10 additional new parking spaces created in the Market Square parking lot for an actual net reduction of 12 parking spaces or less than 6%.I believe these parking spaces can be found in added on-street parking in the downtown area. It is also interesting to note the consultant’s Parking Analysis Report shows there is surplus parking of 33% in relation to the demand for parking in the project area at peak periods.

 

Our landscape design consultants explored options within the project area that would not compromise the overall concept and we also need to consider a number of options elsewhere in the downtown outside of the project area over the longer term.

 

Our consultants reviews  and recommendations were presented at a Public Meeting on January 05,2010 and a copy can be viewed by clicking here.

 

I am confident we will be able to reach a solution that responds to both perspectives for the most part. As always there is an opportunity to work together for the best interests of our overall community.

 

More information about other meetings and prentations is available through the project web site.

 

This project and the revitalization of our Old Town Hall are the two most significant investments we have and that we will see in our downtown for generations.

 

I would be interested in hearing your views and encourage you to attend our Special Committee of the Whole of Council at the Municipal Offices on January 11, 2010 at 7:00 pm.

 

Please take the time to let us know the legacy you would like to see in the heart of our community.