Parking, as proposed, would be negative for the health of the mall and the quality of life of the new residents and for the existing neighbourhood.

The proposed number of residential units is too high for the parking scheme:

• High rise buildings, including the existing buildings in the area, from time to time, when doing maintenance and repairs to their parking areas require large amounts of outside parking. In this case that parking would be either on the area streets or in the mall's commercial parking areas. Repairs can take months.

• Whenever the residents need or want more parking, they will encroach on the mall's parking which will itself be inadequate for it's purpose.

• the mall will not survive without customer friendly parking – maybe this is the real plan here – to replace the mall with high rises.

• 600 parking spots (almost half) would be in parking structures.

• this is a mistake:

  • all of us, being characteristically cautious and pessimistic, tend to feel un-safe parking in a structure either underground or above ground and will do so only as a last resort -

    • or go elsewhere or just not return.

    • I recall sitting outside restaurants at Finch and Leslie and at Sheppard and Kennedy, along with other drivers, waiting for a surface parking spot while parkade spots were available.

    • people fear for their personal safety and want their cars to be intact when they return.

    • you can't tell people they and their cars will be safe and then disclaim all liability.

  • maybe this works downtown, or maybe it doesn't

    • maybe high taxes are not the only reason business move out of the city

    • maybe the downtown just doesn't give them what they need – access and safety for employees and customers

    • maybe thats why people live in the suburbs – where there are 4 and 6 lane streets without cars parked on both sides and with open shopping areas.

  • this proposal would in effect, import a downtown problem here,

    but only to accommodate and squeeze a 30 acre project into 23 acres.

  • this is already a high crime area

    • I'm thinking of the 1” bullet proof glass protecting all staff at the nearby Bank of Montreal branch

    • 600 covered parking spots would be 600 opportunities for crime.

I urge council and planning staff to evaluate this proposal with these parking issues in mind and to scale down the development thereby providing residents with sufficient parking to be eco-responsible and the mall with sufficient quality parking for its own health and for the health of the community.

Herb Richter

2330 Bridletowne Circle