Downtown Parking Study says no Garage needed

With the 2014 downtown parking study needing to be updated, a new study was commissioned in 2023 and its results will be provided to council at their regular meeting on April 24. One recommendation that I find surprising was that no new parking garage is recommended on Covert Street or anywhere else. The report passes the buck to Council to make some key decisions and there are some recommended strategies (that’s how consultants describe “actions”). The good news is that no large expenditures are recommended for the next 10 years; that is, except for a suggestion that it would be good to buy the privately owned parking lots on Second Street and Albert Street, which are currently leased to the town. The Second Street lot alone would cost more than $2M. However, other suggestions are made if this is not done.

The study looked at utilization of downtown parking lots at their peak hour on four days last summer:

Tuesday 22 August 2023 – utilization: on street 45%; off-street 64%; total 56%.
Saturday 9 September 2023 – utilization: on street 37%; off-street 42%; total 40%.
Wednesday 27 September 2023 – utilization: on street 34%; off-street 47%; total 41%.
Saturday 30 September 2023 – utilization: on street 41%; off-street 55%; total 49%.

Note: the survey data does not include any privately-owned lots. All references to “off-street” parking relate only to municipal (public) lots.

See the full report in Resources below.

At no time were all parking spaces taken – in fact, the maximum was 56%.

Below is a map from the report showing peak utilization on 22 August.

**Map from Paradigm Parking Capacity Study**

So let’s look at highlights of the report and recommended “strategies”.

Report highlights

The current supply consists of 2,633 spaces, of which the Town controls 57% (1,500) of all available stalls. The remaining 43% (1,133) are contained in privately owned, publicly accessible parking lots.
Both on-street and off-street parking tend to be short duration (less than one hour);
Overall, the downtown parking system (excluding private off-street parking lots) currently operates below its effective capacity. Although some municipal lots experience parking utilization rates greater than 85% under peak conditions, ample capacity exists elsewhere in the system to accommodate additional demand.
Five-year and ten-year parking demand forecasts project a peak utilization of 72% and 77%, respectively. These forecasts assume the potential loss of the Second Street Lot (139 spaces), Albert Street Lot (60 spaces) and a portion of the Trinity Lot (26 spaces) because these lots are not owned by the Town. The anticipated parking supply is sufficient to accommodate forecast demand for at least the next 10 years. No additional parking is expected to be required.

Summary of recommended strategies

Short Term

Maintain and expand (if necessary) enforcement efforts.
Continue publishing an annual Town of Cobourg Parking Guide.
Provide secure bicycle parking at the Covert Street Lot and install additional bike racks along King Street and at key locations in the downtown, such as at store and bank entrances and at public plazas and parks.
In general, the monthly parking permit should cost as much – or more than – a monthly transit pass.
Review the Town’s Cash-in-Lieu of Parking policy to reflect current land and construction values.
The Town currently leases the properties used for the Second Street Lot and Albert Street Lot. Acquiring these properties would enable the Town to control their future use, providing the certainty and confidence to invest in operational improvements. If the Second Street Lot and/or Albert Street Lot become unavailable, the Town could consider implementing two hours of free parking in the McGill Street Lot during all times of the year to supplement the lost supply.

Medium Term

Continue promoting active transportation through the implementation of the recommendations made as part of the Transportation Master Plan.

Long Term

Monitor the on-demand transit system as it becomes more familiar and reliable for users and make adjustments where possible to increase ridership.
Protect lands at Third Street and Hibernia Street for a potential surface parking facility. (That’s the corner of Third and Hibernia – currently grassed – and a long walk to downtown.)

Recommendations by Staff

That Council direct staff to prepare a by-law that stipulates how parking revenue is utilized in the budget process so as to ensure appropriate distribution of funds is consistently followed. (Currently, a portion of parking revenue is distributed to waterfront operations, by-law enforcement and administration. I believe some goes into a reserve for usage in building a future parking garage which this study says is not needed). Staff (Laurie Wills) wants Council to specify where the money should be allocated.
That Council direct Staff to review the payment in lieu of parking policy based on the results of the 2023 parking Capacity Study through a zoning by-law amendment.

As far as I can tell, there has been no surveying of the views of residents so it’s not clear that the conclusions of this study would be acceptable to residents. The consultants seem to believe that the need for parking can be reduced by promoting public transit and usage of bicycles. But would that be a solution for Cobourg?

Resources

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