The City of Colwood has approved a development variance request which will see the number of bike parking spots reduced at the future Royal B.C. Museum Collections and Research Building.
Council unanimously approved the request on Monday (July 10) with an amendment aimed at facilitating increased accessibility for future staff at the facility.
The building will now include 50 short-term bike parking spaces compared to the original zoning requirements for 78, 41 long-term bike spots instead of 62, two showers instead of six and a 76-metre distance between long-term bike spots and end-of-trip facilities instead of 50 metres.
The changes were requested by the building’s developer in order to reflect the actual use of the building.
In her presentation to council, city planning technician Kaitlyn Suzuki said while the property falls under civic use in terms of requirements for bike parking, just over half of the building’s floor space will be used for storage, which would have much lower bike parking requirements under the industrial use category. This means the requested changes could be considered acceptable.
In making her motion to approve the requested changes, Coun. Cynthia Day made two changes to the variance, requiring the building to have two additional indoor charging points for mobility scooters designated for staff use, as well as to retain the number of electrified bike parking spaces at 10, with six short-term and four long-term.
“It’s to better facilitate staff with mobility challenges, which I believe should be encouraged to assist with future hiring in this tight labour market we are in,” said Day. “While not all of the floor area will be public, all presentations to date have envisioned greater educational links and visitations.”
Coun. Dean Jantzen said while it does feel counterintuitive for council to be reducing bike parking spots on a new development, he agreed the actual use of the building lends itself to the change.