forming part of any highway, or being in or upon any park, park lot, boulevard, garden or other place set apart for ornament or embellishment, or for public recreation within the Municipality. (inserted B/L 10676, May 21/9l; amended B/L 11338, Feb.15/93)”
The City’s Zoning By-Law 8600 – Section 24 Parking, Loading and Stacking Provisions - 24.20.10.1 Size of a Parking Space requires; “where one side of the parking space is flanked by a wall or fence, each parking space shall have a minimum length of 5.5 metres and a minimum width of 3.5 metres”
Furthermore the O. Reg. 191/11: INTEGRATED ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, S.O. 2005, c.11 Part IV.1 Exterior Paths of Travel (80.23) requires exterior paths of travel maintain a minimum clear width of 1.5m. The proposed parking encroachment would create an illegal condition leaving only 1.2m clearance for pedestrians.
Administration also notes the subject property is listed on the Heritage Register and falls within the Ford City Community Improvement Plan. One of the objectives of the Ford City CIP is to enhance the pedestrian areas. Section 4.1 – The Public Realm identifies one of the goals for the subject property is to encourage the installation of new windows on the ground floor (which have been previously covered), to reconnect the space between the building and the street. There is sufficient on-street parking as well as parking spaces provided on the applicant’s own private property.
Lastly, it should be noted that the creation of a parking encroachment on the City Right-of-Way in no way reserves said space for any one individual. The owner of the encroachment would not be permitted to tow vehicles or prevent others from utilizing it; the space would be available to anyone the same as the on-street spaces.
Risk Analysis:
Liability risks are standard with any encroachment and are generally mitigated by transferring the risk to the property owner through the terms of the Encroachment Agreement however; there are health and safety risks and liability risks associated with allowing parking on the sidewalk. There are also risks associated with failing to be AODA compliant, notwithstanding an encroachment agreement the Corporation may be subject to monetary penalties.
Financial Matters:
If approved, the calculated encroachment fee according to M67-2015 results in an annual encroachment fee of $403.00.
Encroachment
Parking Space $350.00 (per 200 sq.ft. space) = Encroachment Fee
1 parking space =$350.00 Therefore the annual encroachment fee of $350.00 plus the annual billing and inspection fee of $53.00 are applicable for a total of $403.00.
The status of fees and deposits are summarized in the table below: