A Lethbridge businesses owner wants the City to get rid of minimum parking requirements (MPR).
Ketli Baird, who co-owns Theoretically Brewing, came before City Council this week to ask for the change.
She would like to see current land-use bylaws amended to allow for what’s known as open-option parking instead.
“Open-option was recently adopted in Edmonton and it essentially abolishes the requirements for municipalities to control how much parking is made available at a local business or development,” Baird told Council.
Baird says an open-option model would let business owners decide how much parking they need, not the City making that determination, which right now, is based on a specific formula.
Baird told Councillors that local business owners have expressed frustration that planned expansions (to their businesses) are inaccessible to them due to these current “antiquated” parking regulations. She says this essentially creates an unequal balance between parking demand and the availability of parking spaces.
City Council is expected to revisit the issue at a future date.