Parking Lot Standards – An Open Letter from the Urban League of London
And open letter sent to the City of London on March 4th, 2022
Dear Planning & Development Staff,
Members of the Board of the League have been following the discussion regarding the updates to the Parking Standards. Members have emailed with staff, invited ULL members to stakeholder sessions, attended an external stakeholder meeting ourselves (Parking Standards Review Group-discussion) and are submitting this open letter to share the Board’s thoughts on Parking Minimums.
We are supportive of the Open Option Requirements, and urge staff to reduce parking space approvals during the planning approval process wherever possible. We also know, based on research, that people are moving towards using rideshare programs, walking and riding bicycles so the continued need for significant amounts of parking is waning. As well, due to the pandemic more Londoners are working from home and the need for parking in core areas has been reduced.
Cities around North America are realizing the time to act on the revitalization of their core areas is now, while people are changing their relationships with their ideas of work, home and community. By rethinking the prevalence of car spaces over community spaces we can better promote our core as a place to gather and grow as a thriving big city.
We are not in support of keeping parking minimums as they negatively impact our community in the following ways:
Encourages private vehicle use (which increase GHG emissions)
Negatively impacts transit ridership
Makes designing walkable neighbourhoods more difficult
Ignore additional costs of parking compared with lower costs associated with public transit
Hampers infill and reduces density
Harms the environment (heat islands, loss of biodiversity, increase urban flooding, etc)
Loss of community spaces (parks, pocket parks, outdoor patios etc.)
The League is also eager to provide input on the Parking Lot Urban Design Standards. It is paramount that we create spaces that give a greater sense of safety, security and, more importantly, add much needed green space to the core. As Jane Jacobs has stated “parking lots are inactive spaces that deaden everything around them.”
To counter some of the negative impact that parking lots create, we need to reimagine how they can function to have some benefit. Stepping stones and pocket park areas are critical for local bird and insect populations. By insisting that parking lots move past their bare, heat creating surfaces we can decrease the urban heat footprint in our city drastically and help species thrive and survive. We know from the research that even small stepping stone spaces increase biodiversity and help birds and insects connect to larger green areas.
All parking areas (both current and future) should be required to dedicate space to become part of the green corridor that links larger green spaces and the river. In addition, these spaces should include native plants only to promote and aid pollinators. These stepping stone areas can also assist in various areas of the Climate Emergency Action Plan in lowering heat, improving water retention on land, reducing pollutants entering waterways, providing insect habitat and creating a better aesthetic for the downtown overall.
Sincerely,
Skylar Franke
Board President
Urban League of London
Representing the views of the Board of Directors