Draft Suburban Parking Policy

Table 1: Road priority matrix

This policy means that certain kerb side road space will be prioritised over others, depending on whether  it is a residential,  commercial, or other area.

* The 2nd priority movement and amenity will be provided in accordance with the Road Use Hierarchy (refer to Appendix 3). 

This means that:

• vehicle movement will take priority over amenity on streets that are key transport corridors;

• movement for buses will take priority on core bus routes;

• movement for cycles will take priority on major cycle routes;

• movement for pedestrians will take priority in areas with high pedestrian footfall;

• movement for freight will take priority on the strategic freight routes; and

• movement of traffžic will take priority on the strategic traffžic routes.

(Note: movement includes wider footpaths, cycle lanes, bus lanes, and tražic lanes. Amenity includes landscaping and street furniture.)

In suburban areas with the highest parking demand (defined as areas where occupancy  of on-street parking regularly exceeds 85%), case by case assessments will be made to determine the Council response.

To provide a consistent response to each case, on-street parking shall be managed using  the following parking management criteria:

In accordance with the Traffžic & Parking Bylaw 2017, resident exemption parking areas will be introduced, alongside time-limit  restrictions, to prioritise resident and short-term parking and deter commuter parking. Each area will be considered through a case by case assessment to determine what other parking options are available for residents (for example, driveways, nearby parking, and on-site parking).

Residents will be able to purchase parking permits to allow an exemption to time restriction within a defined area. Due to the permit applying to the area, it doesn’t guarantee a specific  parking space in the resident’s street. However there will be a cap on the total number of permits available (as a percentage of overall spaces within an area) to ensure that the scheme is viable, and there is likely to be parks available for residents when  they need it. The fee for permits will be set to recover the costs of  administering the scheme.

Eligibility

Parking permits are for residents in the applicable area and proof of address and vehicle registration details will be required.  Residential parking permits will be issued on an annual basis. 

A resident is classed as a person who lives on a street covered by the parking scheme. 

Parking permits for residents will be issued in the following order  of priority:

1. Residents with mobility parking permits.

2. Residents of historic cottages (with existing permits) and no on-site parking or space that could be converted to offž-street parking.

3. Residents of existing houses built before 1995* with no on-site parking or space that could be converted to ožff-street parking.

4. Residents of existing houses built before 1995 with only one offž-street parking space or space that could be converted to offž-street parking. 

5. Residents of all other houses

*1995 was when the Christchurch City District Plan was notified and there was consistent minimum  car parking requirements for houses across suburban Christchurch for the first time.

Visitor Parking

Permits will be made available to cater for visitors and  tradespeople who are visiting properties on a temporary basis. In  order to manage parking demand there will also be a cap on the  number of visitor permits issued.

Council will continue to honour existing residents only parking  space permits. However no new resident-only on-street parking  permits will be allocated once this policy is adopted. Rather if criteria in Policy 2 ‘On-street parking management in areas of high parking demand’ and Policy 3 ‘Residential parking  scheme’ are met a residential exemption parking area will be introduced, as outlined in policy 3. This will allow residents to purchase parking permits which allow an exemption to the time restriction. 

For existing resident’s only permits these will remain valid until: 

• A residents only/residents exemption parking area is proposed in the same area (the scheme will supersede the existing permits and the permit holder will have to apply for  a new permit under the new residential scheme policy); or 

• The residential property is sold, whereby the permit is not transferred to the new owner. The new owner would need  to request Council to investigate implementing a resident exemption area, under Policy 3.

Council will continue to ban on-street parking being used by private businesses to store vehicles on the road, as per the Tražffic & Parking bylaw 2017 (Clause 13), and consider using time  restrictions where  the criteria in Policy 2 are met (i.e. demand for on-street parking regularly exceeds 85% at peak time). 

The provision of any offž-street parking in suburban areas is the  responsibility of property owners and/or their tenants. Council  does not intend to spend rates on providing new offž-street parking in suburban areas. Rather Council will manage areas of  high parking demand as per Policy 2. Council will only consider  supplying offž-street public parking in certain circumstances where the parking management measures under Policy 2 have  been implemented and have not been successful in managing parking demand and all of the following criteria are met.

i. Unsatisfied demand for parking: Paid on-street parking has been introduced, and occupancy of existing paid parking  spaces in the area regularly exceeds 85% during peak periods (busiest 4 hour periods).

ii. Public transport alternatives are not viable: The current system and planned improvements to the public transport system are not suffžicient to cater for projected travel  demand particularly in dispersed catchments. 

iii. Potential consolidation of parking: The development of offž-street parking provides the opportunity to consolidate multiple parking areas that will provide benefits to the local area through improved amenity and urban design, better traffžic management and safer street access points. 

iv. Road capacity: The road network is able to accommodate the additional traffžic generated as a result of the parking facility, at the times of expected peak demand.

These criteria do not apply to the provision of park and ride/bike  facilities (see Policy 9).

Council will improve the provision of parking for people with restricted mobility, by undertaking the following:

1. Provide restricted mobility concessions to enable longer parking in time restricted on-street parking.

2. Increase the number of on-street mobility car parks, where there is demand.

3. Maintain existing parks to ensure that they are consistently designed. 

4. Increase the amount of public information on what mobility parking is currently available.

5. Ensure that mobility parks are appropriately enforced in order to deter illegal parking.

Motorcycles

The demand for on-street motorcycle parking in suburban areas  is low. However, in circumstances where there is demand for such provision, Council will seek to provide parking facilities.  
hesewill be assessed on a case by case basis. Illegal parking of  motorcycles on berms is covered by the Traffžic and Parking 2017  bylaw.

Bicycles

The focus on encouraging greater use of this activity is reflected in the priority given to this parking type in the kerbside priority matrix (Policy 1). In areas of high demand Council encourages the introduction of bike corrals. These must be implemented in line with the Structures on Roads policy* and Traffžic and Parking  2017 Bylaw. A Bicycle Corral is an on-street bicycle parking facility that can accommodate many more bicycles than a typical  cycle rack on the footpath. Bike corrals usually occupy an area equivalent to one car parking space with enough space for multiple bicycles. On-street bicycle parking will be designed in line with the Christchurch Cycle Design Guidelines (2013). 

Structures on roads policy PDF (external link)

Electric vehicles

This is expressed in Councils Electric Vehicle Policy, formally adopted in March 2016.

Park and ride or bike

Council will support park and ride/bike facilities which link and are well integrated to major cycleways and public transport. 

Park and bike is the ability to be able to park a car and then bike  for the rest of the journey. Facilities should be secure and could  also provide storage.

Car sharing

This is expressed in Councils Car Sharing policy, formally adopted in March 2016.

Advances in parking management technology are shaping how the council manages its parking. Such technologies make  parking more customer friendly, reduce operating costs, and enhance data collection and monitoring.

Council will:

• support technology changes (such as electric charging, smart technology);

• continue to review the extent and type of parking that will be required in the future in response to these technology changes (such as driverless/autonomous vehicles).  

If the carriageway of a street is less than 7 metres in width and there are known access problems (i.e. there are limited places for  vehicles to pass and/or emergency access may be compromised),  Council will propose to remove parking on one side of the street.  This will be done by applying a No Stopping restriction (broken yellow lines) to alternating sides of the street to assist in slowing  vehicles down.