City Planning for Reorientation of Cow Bay Parking

Plans Include Development of New Lot in Cleared Area Along George Hills Way

PRINCE RUPERT, JUNE 27th, 2023 – As the City continues to move ahead with actions from our Interim Parking Strategy, the City, in partnership with Prince Rupert Legacy Inc are moving forward with the development of a gravel parking lot in the cleared area along the south side of George Hills Way. The lot is owned by Prince Rupert Legacy Inc, the City’s wholly owned development corporation, and was cleared in the past year in order to further assess development potential. With that area cleared, the lot will be developed for parking while it awaits future development, followed by the eventual extension of 3rd Avenue through that area.

This plan will also offset the potential sale of a portion of land in the existing lot on Cow Bay Road for mixed use development, which is currently in the public process of disposition. Council and staff have been approached with an offer from a potential developer for a portion of land there, and that property disposition will be advertised this week.

“Cow Bay is one of Prince Rupert’s most sought-after commercial areas. As we begin to get more interest in development, we know we need to have adequate parking in the surrounding area so that it’s accessible for the public,” said Rob Buchan, Prince Rupert’s City Manager. “To offset the potential loss of parking in one of our existing lots, we’re looking to the Legacy lot to more than make up the difference in the potential loss of spaces.”

Parking in Cow Bay has long been identified as an issue, with higher congestion often found in the area, particularly on sunny days. As part of the overall review of parking, City Staff looked at how existing parking serves the area and opportunities to rearrange parking to promote planning principles of smart and walkable neighborhoods, as well as accommodate growth in Cow Bay. The parking lot along George Hills Way would be less than a 1-minute walk away from businesses in lower Cow Bay, and would remain until new development on the Legacy-owned lot occurs and brings new, paved parking.

Over the longer term, there are also plans to install angled parking along the 3rd Ave E extension, which is planned to follow through behind Rona. In the remaining cleared area owned by Legacy, the Official Community Plan also prioritizes mixed residential and commercial development, so attracting those forms of development is also an ongoing priority.

In addition to parking changes in Cow Bay, the parking strategy also proposes to increase minimum parking times in key areas of downtown, to encourage the staff of downtown businesses to use longer term parking rather than more high-traffic areas. Council is also currently in the process of considering a Zoning Amendment to implement a Parking Specified Area to encourage redevelopment downtown.

This work is part of Council’s 2022 Strategic directives, which identified the development of a parking plan as a priority. This directive included special attention to be paid to the more congested areas of downtown and Cow Bay. In addition to the changes noted above is a fairly fulsome list of other parking regulatory changes that will be rolled out over the next 1-3 years. For more information on the full Interim Parking Management Strategy, or to ask staff a question about what’s being proposed, go to: https://engage.princerupert.ca/park-prince-rupert