The mayor of Kingston wants to move forward with the construction of a six-storey municipal parking garage, even though a condo development associated with the project was rejected last week.

Mayor Bryan Paterson says that with an ongoing parking shortage in the city, projects like this one are important to help improve the downtown experience for residents and tourists.

“Certainly, at this point, it’s full speed ahead on the parking garage,” Mayor Bryan Paterson says.

“There’s going to be a need for them. There’s going to be something that will be built on the Capitol Theatre property.”

The $25-million, multi-level parking garage was supposed to include 40 parking spaces for residents of the proposed Capital Condo project.

According to city documents, IN8 Developments was going to purchase a licence agreement for access to the garage. Financing details of the contribution were not hammered out, but officials with the city of Kingston say it wasn’t a major impact on the cost.

Mayor Paterson says even though the condo project is off the table, it won’t affect the need to build more parking spaces downtown.

“That need and desire for more parking in the downtown is only going to increase,” Paterson says. “There are other entities and other interested parties looking into leasing parking spaces.”

The parking garage would accommodate short-term and long-term parking users. It’s meant to replace nearly 300 stalls where Homestead Land Holdings Ltd. plans to build two high-rise buildings further down the street.

On Friday, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal rejected the 16-storey Capitol Condo project. A group of concerned citizens appealed a previous decision to approve the project. Opponents said it would ruin the historic look of the downtown.

The parking lot could still go ahead if council approves it. The multi-level garage would be built on the current Byron parking lot on Queen Street. Mayor Paterson says one of the new council’s first big decisions could be to finalize the parking garage construction. Council will have to approve the $25-million price tag in the 2019 budget.

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