The City of Richmond is investigating the impacts of townhouse tandem parking on surrounding streets.
Concerns have been raised over a period of time by residents with regard to the use or abuse of tandem (end-to-end, as opposed to side-by-side) parking in townhouse complexes.
The issue surrounds the fact that many cars belonging to townhouse complex residents spill out into neighbouring streets.
Residents in surrounding areas believe that the practice is caused because the townhouse occupants are either using one of their tandem spots for storage or they don't want to jockey their cars in and out of the tandem spaces all the time.
Many multi-family complexes also have more cars than their units have spaces and entertain visitors who may also be parking on neighbouring streets.
City staff will consult with stakeholders, such as developers and homebuilders, about the impacts of perhaps regulating tandem parking and the minimum dimensions of parking stalls.
Victor Wei, the city's director of transportation, presented a report to city council's planning committee last week, which detailed how a number of townhouse resi-dents surveyed noted that tandem parking arrangements are inconvenient.
It was also noted, however, that developers commented that townhouse units that feature tandem parking arrangements are priced lower, and are slower to find buyers, than those with side-by-side parking stalls.
Further clouding the issue was a common complaint that visitor parking stalls at multi-family residential developments are not being clearly marked.
Staff told the committee that the illegal conversion of tandem garages to habitable areas is "extremely rare, and is unlikely to occur due to vigilant monitoring done by strata corporations."
It was suggested by committee that further consultation is unnecessary, as tandem parking arrangements are suitable if society is to decrease its reliance on cars, by using smaller cars, and fewer cars per family.
Staff recommend that tandem parking in new townhouse developments continue to be allowed, but that the city consult with the aforementioned stakeholders on the possibility of limiting the number of tandem-style units in a complex and examine the compatibility of such units with regard to surrounding streets.
City staff are to report back as soon as possible on the results of the consultation and any proposed measures to address the identified concerns.
