DEAD MAN’S FLATS – A loop on Third Avenue in Dead Man’s Flats is being proposed in the hope of meeting the MD of Bighorn's new parking requirements as part of the Copperstone Resort development.
Bighorn's finance committee approved recommending it for council's consideration in directing municipal administration to enter into discussions on the plan.
“This is a conceptual scheme, and it will need some public consultation and input as part of the process,” said Reeve Lisa Rosvold.
Bighorn council approved an amendment to the land use bylaw for parking requirements for visitor, resort, flexible and extended visitor accomodations in August.
The changes increased the number of parking stalls allowed for those land uses. The previous requirement allowed for one stall per accommodation, while the amendment allows a stall per one-bedroom accommodation and each additional bedroom has half a stall added.
There are currently six parallel parking stalls located within the road right-of-way between the Copperstone Resort and Second Avenue.
Under the proposal by McElhanney Consulting Services, 31 additional angled parking stalls within the road right-of-way if the Third Avenue loop concept is approved by council.
The existing roadway width of Second Street, Third Avenue and Third Street is approximately six metres, but does not provide sufficient space to accommodate two-way traffic with 45-degree angular parking on one side.
As a result, the proposal states creating a one-way loop will allow for the angled parking consisting of 15 stalls on Third Avenue and 16 stalls along Third Street.
With new requirements within the MD of Bighorn, unique solutions such as the one presented by Copperstone could become more common.
“I think we are going to need some unique solutions,” Rosvold said. “With Copperstone, they had parking solutions but then sold their second portion of land to another developer. Then they lost some of those parking solutions.”
A public engagement stage must now be conducted on the proposal, and a detailed design and additional studies must be submitted to the operations department.
Once completed, the application can be presented to council for final approval.
“I hope that future designs consider all the parking requirements that will be needed so that the redevelopment of parking doesn’t need to occur,” Rosvold said.
