Regina’s Heritage Community Association is hoping to stop police from using one of its current parking lots on Saskatchewan Drive.
The city agreed to let Regina Police Service use the parking lot, which is on the southwest corner of Saskatchewan Drive and St. John Street, under a five-year contract in 2011.
It expired in June 2016, but it appears no one noticed until the end of that year.
Police are now looking for an eight-year extension on the deal.
Surface parking lots are unsafe, unsightly and inherently hostile to pedestrians, according to Shayna Stock, Heritage Community Association’s executive director.
“There’s a lot of surface level parking in our neighbourhood already, and residents don’t like it. It doesn’t look good. It doesn’t feel safe,” Stock said.
“From the community association’s perspective, five years should have been enough time to develop a plan for their parking needs,” Stock said.
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Regina police recognize that the extension isn’t an ideal solution, Regina Police Service spokesperson Elizabeth Popowich said in a statement.
“But we have long known about, and publicly articulated, our need for facility and building space (including parking) within the community,” she said. “This request for extension is not a long-term solution and we will continue to work with the Heritage Community and city facility management services to achieve a plan satisfactory to all.”
Mayor Michael Fougere said it’s possible the police service won’t require the parking lot for the full eight years.
“We’re looking at a new place potentially for the RPS, new headquarters perhaps, a new configuration. That takes time to do that,” Foguere said.
Stock said the Heritage Community Association wants to see mixed residential and commercial developments in the lot instead.
Police should work with the city to promote public transit, cycling and carpooling, she added.
“We’d love to see better parking infrastructure, more multi-level parking lots that also allow for commercial residential along the sidewalk and street so that people can walk by and not feel afraid,” Stock said.
Fougere said he understood the Heritage Community Association’s concerns.
“I understand that over the longer term they want to have a greenway space along Saskatchewan Drive. We all understand that. We’re looking for flexibility while we begin to move in that direction, and it may take some time,” he said.
The motion will go before council on Monday night.
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