‘A big improvement:’ Maple Ridge updates parking bylaw, requiring additional long-term bike parking, more EV-ready spaces

Maple Ridge city council is increasing the amount of long-term bike parking spaces required in new builds.

At a Dec. 16 council meeting, council adopted an updated off-street parking and loading bylaw — which is a policy that regulates parking and loading on properties. The impetus behind this shift is to introduce “requirements that support more sustainable mobility options, encourage modal shift, and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” according to a city report.

With it, long-term bike storage increases from 0.25 spaces to one space per unit. It’s also required throughout the entirety of Maple Ridge, not just the town centre as it was with the previous version.

Jackie Chow, a volunteer with HUB Cycling Ridge Meadows, called the updated policy, “a big improvement.”

“By providing secure and convenient bicycle parking, you encourage people to choose cycling over driving, so it reduces short car trips,” she said.

This reduces greenhouse gas emissions and congestion, while promoting healthier lifestyles and lowering transportation costs for individuals.

“It aligns with broader urban planning goals, like reducing car dependency, improving public health, creating more resilient, climate friendly cities,” she said.

Between the first and second reading of the bylaw, the bicycle parking requirements were reduced from 1.25 spaces per unit to one.

“It’s a little difficult to know how much is going to be needed in the long term, because it all depends on how fast municipalities move with improving cycling infrastructure,” said Chow.

To encourage active transportation, she said there’s a number of other areas the city needs to work on — including protected bike lanes on arterial streets and designated bike routes on quieter streets.

“You need to work on better infrastructure, more bike lanes, safer streets,” Chow said.

What else is included in the bylaw?

The new bylaw also reduces the minimum number of parking spaces required in the town centre and Lougheed transit corridor The goal is to encourage more transit-oriented development, especially with Langley-Haney Place bus rapid transit line slated to be built.

In Maple Ridge’s transit oriented areas — Port Haney Station, Maple Meadows Station and Haney Place Transit Exchange — the province has already legislated that there are no parking minimums.

The bylaw also requires buildings to have more parking spaces ready for electric vehicles. Low density housing is required to have one space per unit to be EV-ready, apartment buildings and seniors housing with all residential spaces EV-ready, and commercial developments with at least 10 per cent of spaces EV-ready.

The updated bylaw won’t affect in-stream development applications.