Montreal eases parking rules on new condos

October 1, 2018

The downtown Montreal neighbourhood of Ville-Marie has eased mandatory parking requirements for condominium developers. The former bylaw required residential developers to build parking spots proportional to the number of housing units, among other factors.
If the number of parking stalls was not met, the developer had to pay a fine of $80,000 for each missing parking spot.
The Urban Development Institute (UDI) of Quebec had lobbied that the parking regulation was out of date in an age of better rapid transit and the growing use of bicycles in urban settings. According to an analysis by Altus Group, it costs from $80 to $125 per square foot to add an underground parking garage to a condominium tower.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante agreed with the developers. “We are getting rid of [the parking requirement],” she said at a recent UDI meeting.
Plante said a required minimum number of bike racks will remain in place, though. 
"We want to give developers the flexibility to decide, depending on the target population and the distance from public transit, whether it is really necessary to build parking spaces," Plante said. 
However, there is a trade-off with the parking easement. A separate Montreal bylaw, expected to come into effect next year, would require downtown condo developers to include a percentage of “affordable” homes in their new projects, the mayor said.