Redesign could help Sharbot Lake parking woes

Jule Koch Brison | Oct 07, 2010

Built as it is on a narrow, rocky peninsula that separates the two basins of Sharbot Lake, the Village of Sharbot Lake really has no room for expansion. Finding extra parking spaces for its congested downtown core, therefore, would seem to be a task akin to pulling a rabbit out of thin air.

Last Wednesday evening, September 29, at what was to have been the last meeting of the Sharbot Lake Ad Hoc Parking Review Committee, the township’s planner Glenn Tunnock brought forward some new ideas on alleviating the parking problem.

The committee, made up of business owners, interested residents and councilors, was formed a few months ago to bring recommendations to council on how to improve the parking situation before the planned reconstruction of Elizabeth Street begins.

They have compiled a list of possible solutions to present to council, which included in the short term: paving the old fire hall lot and designating it and the parking lot on Cannon Rd across from the township office as “Municipal Parking”; installing signs at the bank and Freshmart store pointing to the parking lots; prohibiting parking for the first 200 feet of Elizabeth St. (south end); and installing a crosswalk near the RBC branch.

While it was agreed that in other parts of the village, parking was not as much of a problem, another recommendation was to widen Medical Centre Rd. in front of the beach to accommodate angle parking.

The committee also recommended that the township provide improved snow removal and sanding on the sidewalks. Another suggestion, though they recommended that compliance be voluntary and not enforced, was putting time limits on parking in the congested area.

In the longer term, the committee looked at approaching the school board to purchase the basketball court for a parking lot if the board is going to dispose of the school when it closes, and purchasing land in front of the bank and in front of the house to the north of the bank for angle parking.

The committee invited Tunnock to last week’s meeting, and he suggested that the municipality could create more spaces by playing around with the design of the existing parking spots, for example, the grocery store lot, portions of which are presently under-utilized.

However, he said the first thing would be to do an inventory of how many spaces are needed to serve the businesses and homes in the core area. There are standards that apply – for example, x number of spaces are needed for a pharmacy, a grocery store, a home. “It’s a simple equation – demand and supply,” he said, adding that it would be about a half-day or day’s work to do the inventory. The committee had already recommended painting parking lines and Tunnock agreed that painted spaces makes parking more efficient.

The committee discussed leasing or expropriating land, but agreed that expropriation would not be a recommended course of action. It was also agreed that the township needs to ascertain exactly where the property lines are.

Also discussed at the meeting was the possibility of the township purchasing a house by the grocery store, which is for sale, but Public Works Manager Mike Richardson said that would require moving a bit faster than the township was prepared to do.

The committee agreed to retain Tunnock’s firm to work on the inventory and parking redesign, and Tunnock’s colleague David Welwood, who was also at the meeting, will start out by hoofing it around the village, knocking on doors to collect the data for the inventory.

The committee also agreed to meet again to discuss Tunnock’s findings.