Calgary residents divided over proposed tweaks to street parking permits

What's going on with Calgary's residential parking permits? Well, there's a lot to unpack.

Coun. Andre Chabot issued a notice of motion endorsed by nine of his council colleagues, responding to concerns from residents who as of Aug. 1 would have to pay for residential street parking.

The Ward 10 representative suggests not charging residents in single-family homes for their first street parking permit. They would be charged for additional permits.

"I'm only looking at low-density residential and small [multi-family], so single-family, semi-detached row houses … would all qualify," Chabot told the Calgary Eyeopener in an interview Tuesday.

Why just those types of homes? Chabot said it's because accommodating all the cars that exist in a multi-family building on the urban streets would be a challenge and could disincentivize the use of on-site parking.

"I'm looking for fee assistance right now and to help some of those folks that may not have the financial wherewithal to pay to park in front of their homes, whether that be for an hour or two hours or three hours," Chabot said.

These fees have been in the works for years and were approved initially in 2020, during the previous council's term.

The program's original goal was to ensure high-demand parts of town still had parking for residents. That high demand might be caused by the bars on 17th Avenue S.W., a high school parking spillover, a hospital or a transit station.

But it was costing $1.4 million to operate and enforce, so the city outlined changes that would shift to a user-pay model. Current councillors OK'd the new plan with some tweaks and set fees last November.

Costs differ depending on what type of home you live in, where it is located and how many vehicles you want to park on the street. 

Here's the breakdown: 

Chabot told the Eyeopener he is concentrating on the first permit type in that chart. 

But what about everybody else in the RPP program? 

Coun. Courtney Walcott's inner-city ward would have a lot of residents who fall into the Market Permit category.

"I have residents who are worried about $1,000 a year," he said, referring to a ballpark cost that those in multi-residential units will pay. He noted the fee structure includes a low-income option that this notice of motion hasn't addressed.

The Ward 8 councillor said having a conversation about affordability is fair, but Chabot's proposal isn't.

"I think that's a fair conversation to have. That's not this conversation," Walcott said. "This conversation is: people who have a door facing the street get one car free because they were mad about $50 a year."

Walcott said if this motion passes next week at the city council meeting, it will benefit some Calgarians more than others. 

What are Calgarians saying? 

Alex McColl lives in a condo in the Beltline, the city's walkable, densely populated urban core.

The building has 189 homeowners and six floors of underground parking. Typically, units have access to one stall. But for those renting out a condo or with roommates, that won't get people far, he said. 

"That's hard to bear if you're a young person just starting out downtown and you're being told that the established homeowner gets to pay nothing."

Standing outside on the tree-lined narrow street, he gestures to townhouses nearby. Those buildings have driveways, but under Chabot's proposal, they will also get a free parking pass for the street. 

"It's ridiculous and it's unfair and it's, you know, for a lot of people that's more than what we pay the city in property taxes," McColl said.

For his location, the fee works out to $1,800 a year.

For the most part, McColl's car stays parked. It's used for weekend warrior trips. He calls his lifestyle "environmentally responsible." He's commuting on foot and has chosen density over suburban sprawl.

He does see a way to even the playing field with a different approach, based on neighbourhood demand and car size. 

"Don't price based on the shape of the home," he said. 

Over at the 45 Street CTrain station in Westgate, the nearby streets are lined with signs declaring "No Parking Except By Permit." But the street is pretty quiet, sparsely populated by parked cars.

For the most part, Asad Chaudhary needs street parking only a couple of days in the year, like when a crowd comes over for a party at his bungalow. 

This notice of motion would benefit Chaudhary. 

"I think it's kind of unfortunate," Chaudhary said. "This is just really blatant, right? [Councillors] are literally going out of their way to allow people who have street-facing housing … who probably have yards and garages, or the ability to get yards, garages or parking pads on their property, to park their first vehicle free." 

Chaudhary has neighbours in condos, too, neighbours he points out can't as easily modify their home to fit parking needs. And, while multi-family homes probably generate more taxes for the city, Chaudhary said they are carrying the burden of paying for more of the residential parking program.

"That doesn't make any sense," Chaudhary said. 

His big issue with this notice of motion is that it goes against the point of creating a cost-recovery model that would see residents in these parking zones pay for the program's costs. 

"You can't put a storage shed for my bikes on the street, I can't put a picnic table on the street," Chaudhary said. "But if you want to leave your 3,000-pound vehicle on the street, there's an entitlement. That'll be free, and it's indefinite. It doesn't make any sense."

Laura Shutiak lives in Canyon Meadows. Her cul-de-sac isn't part of the RPP, though parts of her neighbourhood are. 

The idea that Calgarians can park cars on the street for free and occupy public space as long as they move the vehicle around regularly, in perpetuity, she thinks that's wrong. 

"You know, I park my car in my garage. Should I get a tax break because I'm not using the public street?"

Some in her neighbourhood group chat say this is a tax on suburbia, but she disagrees. 

She said what was put forward, in her opinion, is the city's best attempt to cater to several very different scenarios. In fact, she wishes her cul-de-sac had parking limitations because it lacks a sidewalk, and one of her neighbours stores several cars there and will continue to do so without penalty. 

"If they pay, then somebody's probably not going to have eight cars and they're going to think more about where they're putting their cars," Shutiak said. "Clean out their garage … move some of that junk to the basement. I do think that it will open up public spaces. It will open up our streets."