Ombudsman says fines for lost parking slots must be doubled to €4,000

Fines for developers who do not provide enough car spaces for an increase in residential units in towns should be doubled, the Commissioner for Environment and Planning David Pace has said.

Pace’s comments came in response to an inquiry kick-started by a complaint from the Sliema local council, which said the PA was not sufficiently enforcing its own rules on forcing developers to provide car spaces for the significant number of apartments, offices and hotels being developed in the locality.

Of the 104 applications for developments in Sliema submitted to the PA in 2016, the council found a shortfall of 184 car-parking spaces in violation of the PA policies.

Additionally, some PA policies impose the retention of property façades to preserve the streetscape, therefore preventing the introduction of a garage. Adding insult to injury, an additional 47 parking spaces up to April 2017 had been “sacrificed” for the placing of tables and chairs on our roads by restaurants and bars.

But the PA contended that the SPED (Strategic Plan for Environment and Development) reduced parking provision to encourage car users to use public transport and that increased development within the so called “principal urban area” – which includes Sliema – would provide the critical mass of population with a feasible public transport provision.

“Only when car users realise that it is not possible to park in Sliema will they start to consider shifting to other modes of transport. As long as parking spaces are ample – and cheap, if not free – car use will continue to rise and bus patronage and use of green modes will continue to decline,” the PA said.

In his investigation, the planning ombudsman found that the €2,096 contribution to the PA’s commuted parking payment scheme – a fine paid for each parking space required when a new development is erected –  was not enough to counter the increasing demand for on-street parking in places like Sliema.

“The CPPS fine for each parking space has been in force for two decades and it is time that this scheme is revised, more so when the number of registered cars has almost doubled,” the Commissioner said.

The PA said a study has been completed to revise the CPPS.

The Commissioner disagreed with the PA’s contention that less parking space would force motorists to choose public transportation, saying it “does not do much to solve the parking problem various localities are facing. Statistics show that registered cars are increasing by the thousands and the use of public transport does not relieve the need for garages/parking spaces as the cars (whether on the move or not) still need to be accommodated somewhere.”

He also said the PA had not justified why the provision of more parking spaces for certain developments was “unfeasible or impossible” as laid down in the CPPS rules; and in the case of kerbside ‘al fresco’ spots, why the PA did not consider the parking problems resulting from the loss of these spaces.

“The Planning Authority should be more considerate and strict when processing applications that can result in a higher demand for parking spaces and the Planning Authority should adopt a more positive approach by rewarding developments that provide for off-street parking rather than impose schemes that fine those who do not, especially in processing applications for outdoor catering areas,” the Commissioner said.

He also called on the PA to promote collective developments that can allow common access and circulation areas to one centralised parking area.

“Collective developments can prove fruitful also to the developers, the neighbours and not least to the environment, in reducing haphazard development and the number of accesses and in involving bigger developers that are more structured and organised. Such collective developments can be promoted by introducing specific time intervals, say three or five years,  wherein works, say in a specific street, can be carried out.

“Other than the advantage of providing an incentive for collective development, the period of construction inactivity grants the neighbours and the environment breathing space.”

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