When the historic Dominion Hotel was built in downtown Victoria in 1890, there was, of course, no thought given to parking.
No parking was required in 1900, when an expansion made the Dominion the only 100-room hotel in the Pacific Northwest.
This year, 125 years after the hotel went up, it is being converted to apartments and officials say there’s still no need for car parking.
Bicycle parking, however, is another matter.
In fact, when councillors review an application on Thursday to transform the old hotel into 97 boutique studio and one-bedroom apartments, their decision on whether to send it to public hearing could hinge on how much bike parking can be squeezed into the building.
“This is unusual. We deal with parking variances quite often, but they usually apply to cars,” said Coun. Chris Coleman, when the application first came before councillors just before Christmas. Coleman said there are two issues to be determined: the total number of bike spaces to be provided and where they are located.
GMC Projects Inc. wants to breathe new life into the hotel, at 759 Yates St., by converting its rooms into market rental apartments. The 97 units would be equipped with private bathrooms and kitchenettes — including fridge, sink and microwave — but no stove. There would be a communal kitchen on the building’s second floor.
Because no off-street or underground parking is to be provided, a variance is needed from the city. Zoning would normally call for the 100-room hotel to have 50 parking stalls. None were provided when the hotel was built, so the lack of parking remains a legal non-conforming use.
Under the existing zoning, a 97-unit residential building would normally require 68 parking stalls. Because of the building’s pre-existing 50-stall parking variance, that requirement is reduced to 18 stalls.
GMC would like the parking requirement further reduced to nil — a request supported by city staff, as the hotel is built to the property lines and there’s no place to put parking stalls.
To help compensate for the lack of parking, GMC had proposed providing 49 bike-parking spaces within the development (28 in bike rooms and 21 in units equipped with wall mounts). Space for a further 24 bikes was to be made available through provision of six bike racks on Yates Street and two V-shaped racks on the corner at Blanshard and Yates.
But some, including councillors Ben Isitt and Jeremy Loveday, questioned whether sidewalk bike racks should be considered in the bike-parking equation.
“We seem to have 24 less bike parking spots than there are units. You’ve got to imagine if they’re not driving, they’re going to get around somehow, so they’ll probably have a bike,” Loveday said.
“Then on the street, we’re having 24 bike-parking spots on the street. That’s not an amenity. Those will be filled at all times with people who live inside.”
Isitt said if the idea is to provide bike parking to compensate for relaxed vehicle-parking requirements, the bike facilities should be provided on the property, not on the street.
He recommended it go to the planning committee and that additional on-site bike parking be provided.
“I don’t think this is ready for public hearing,” he said.
Mayor Lisa Helps said she’s keen to see the application go to public hearing.
“The refurbishment of that building fits with many of the goals that we have for our downtown so I want to hear what the public thinks about that,” Helps said.
She said there seems to be demand for this type of unit as there are about 150 applications for the 97 units.
