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A design has been put forward for a new parking lot in the Stan Wright Industrial Park, but exactly what it is going to be used for is still up for debate.
In 2017, Parks Canada agreed to rezone the area from open space to institutional for a not-for-profit parking lot - as long as they could approve the design.
And earlier this year, Jasper Municipal Council approved spending $775,000 on the project: $200,000 from restricted reserves and $575,000 from grant funding. Costs could be recovered from user fees.
Suggested uses for the parking lot have included long-term RV parking and commercial storage.
鈥淭here is a lot of need for parking in Jasper,鈥� said Mark Fercho, the municipality鈥檚 chief administrative officer.
鈥淲e are so congested.鈥�
The council presented a design for the 76-spot parking area with 13 large spaces, 48 regular spaces, and 15 parallel parking spaces along Stan Wright Drive, to the Planning and Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) on Thursday.
PDAC is the public advisory committee that advises the Park Superintendent on planning and development issues.
A committee member said he would like the usage should be designated before the committee made a final decision. He also had safety concerns for those who would use the parking and walk towards the town centre.
But Fercho argued that the use may change over time as it will respond to the needs of the community.
鈥淗ow it functions is something the council will need to set,鈥� he said.
鈥淎nd the council is not going to set something up that is going to put people at risk.鈥�
Peter Medig, an S-block building owner who opposed the application when it was submitted in 2017, was back to give his views on the subject.
He said he was not against the parking lot but was concerned it would be full of RVs and leave S-block 鈥渁 mess like it is now.
鈥淏efore this comes through I would like a decision on what is going there,鈥� he said.
But the municipal council sees the building/use dilemma the other way around.
At their Committee of the Whole meeting on Tuesday, councillors expressed that they wanted to wait to see what would be approved before deciding how to use it.
Councillor Rico Damota said: 鈥淲e can鈥檛 start to work on a framework until Parks Canada comes back.鈥�
The main possible uses discussed were long-term RV parking and commercial parking, especially for users of the industrial park.
Councillor Helen Kelleher-Empey said: 鈥淚 think parking is very important. S-Block is insane. There is no room over there.鈥�
They requested the administration department look into potential frameworks around commercial vehicle and other RV parking to discuss at their next committee meeting, on July 9.
The PDAC committee will have submitted a written recommendation on the parking lot design to the superintendent by today (June 27) and Parks Canada will make a final decision within 15 working days of receiving the recommendation.
