A lack of parking could halt a Bonnyville woman's plans to bring laser tag to town.
Bev Towe is hoping that introducing the new activity to Bonnyville will not only give youth in the area something to do, but also keep visitors' dollars going back into the community.
“We've had a couple of lacrosse tournaments here and they were asking what they could do, people were telling them they'd have to go to Cold Lake. It's about time we did something in our community and with laser tag, it's for anybody,” said Towe.
However, the proposed location for the laser tag has significantly less parking stalls then what would be required in accordance to the town's land use bylaw. Currently, there is only allowance for five parking stalls at the 5003 51 Ave. location. To run the laser tag arena and party room Towe's hoping for, a total of 39 stalls are needed.
Staff recommendation is to refuse the development permit, with the reason that the major parking variance of 82.7 per cent is detrimental to the amenities and characteristics of the surrounding area.
With the parking unavailable on-site, town staff set out three options for Towe in-lieu of the missing stalls. The first would be to pay the $69,400, which was calculated as the value for the missing parking based on $2,041 per spot. Alternatively, Towe could enter into a lease agreement with another property owner who has available space for parking, or a combination of cash in-lieu and off-site parking.
Notifications of the development permit application were sent out to adjacent landowners, and only one objection was received from a nearby business owner, who was opposed due to the fact parking in Bonnyville is already scarce.
Should the development permit be approved, the laser tag facility would be open from Wednesday to Sunday starting at 4 p.m. on weekdays. Sessions last about 45 minutes to an hour, with a maximum of 20 people in the game at one time.
Towe explained to council that while the square footage of the building allows for a maximum of 100 people in the facility at one time, due to the nature of the activity they won't have near that number. It was also noted that even if they have a full game going on, with an additional 20 players on standby in the party room, it's unlikely each will have driven there by themselves.
“If we got hockey teams that come in and book it while they're here for tournaments, they'll get dropped off by bus. Hopefully the school kids will walk after school, or families will come together.”
The lack of parking downtown has long been an issue for both new and existing businesses, and the general consensus on council was it's a problem they need to take a serious look at.
“We're in a situation now where we have no more for the youth, we have no theatre, I think this is a good thing... I'd hate to see this thing go to the wayside,” said Coun. Ray Prevost. “I don't think there's a person around this table that isn't concerned about parking. We can't just keep saying no, no, no because we don't have the parking. At some point the town has to buck up and create some parking, even if it's further out and they'll have to walk.”
Mayor Gene Sobolewski agreed, “We're stagnant if we continue with the massive parking stalls. Unless we're going to start bulldozing houses, parking isn't going to exist. It's just not going to pop up... I do think we're going to need to discourage parking on private property, we're going to need to try and figure out a spot where there's a designated place or something for people to park.”
For Towe though, she said the parking requirements are worrisome as there's no other place in town that would accommodate a laser tag facility.
The development permit application will be back on the agenda at the Nov. 8 council meeting for a decision. If it gets approved, Towe plans to have the business up and running before Christmas.
