Council waives parking requirement for Lakeside expansion

By Wolf Depner Western News Staff Oct 17 2007

One of the largest businesses in the region has received a potentially big break. Penticton Lakeside Resort owner David Prystay can claim a major victory in his long-standing tussles with the city over parking when council rescinded a bylaw that required him to expand parking as the casino expanded. The casino wants to add 200 square metres of gaming — about 40 seats — and storage space as part of the proposed expansion that promises future casino guests direct access to the casino off the second floor of an existing parkade. The expansion would have required another 46 parking stalls under the bylaw, but Prystay argued that the resort already has too much parking after the city forced him to build the parkade, whose third storey remains nearly empty most of the time. “The fact is we have too much parking,” said Prystay, who dismissed the third floor as a “waste” of $1.5 million.

All council members, with the exception of Coun. John Vassilaki, agreed with these points. Coun. Garry Litke said the rescinded city bylaw “mandated a level of parking that was too high for this hotel” in echoing the most common argument heard during the discussion. But Vassilaki — who served on the council that demanded the parkade — disagreed. With the casino growing, it will need more parking, he said. “I believe they are necessary. We must plan for the future.” Council’s approval of variance means final parking numbers for the resort now come close to matching figures proposed in 2002 when it had first filed an application, according to Donna Butler, city planner. The current supply of 431 parking spaces falls 18 short of the figure recommended by the private consultant which the resort hired back in 2002, Butler said. Existing city standards call for 511 parking stalls, a shortfall of about 100 spaces, she added, noting that the resort is currently not complying with the existing bylaws, because it is already short 27 spaces.

This is the third parking variance the resort has received from the city in recent years. Prystay — who said in an e-mail that the resort would not be “bullied” over the parking question — had reminded councillors earlier this month that the city is a partner in the proposed gaming expansion which would not create any direct additional revenues for the resort. “The Lakeside gets no additional (dollars) — just the additional stress,” he said.