GANDER, NL – Gander is about to become a little more blue, but that’s a good thing.
To better reflect what Mayor Percy Farwell called the town’s “senior friendly” image, Gander will be moving forward its accessible parking space expansion plan.
How it will look upon completion is not yet known, but currently, the town is looking at six out of 13 town-owned parking lots for additional blue-zone parking.
Areas include the Town Square, 241-261 Armstrong Boulevard and 280-318 Armstrong Boulevard.
The town depot has never had accessible parking and a single blue-zone space will be added here.
While the Steele Community Centre has accessible parking on the provincial government-owned portion of the lot, the Gander-owned section doesn’t have any. Four accessible spaces could be added here as well.
“We’re looking at it on a lot-by-lot basis,” said Farwell, “Going through the process, looking into the recommendations, but we’re going to be increasing capacity wherever we can.”
The town’s plan falls on the heels of Service NL’s goal of improving accessibility and inclusion for all persons in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Through amendments to the Buildings Accessibility Act, the province wanted to increase the overall minimum on accessible parking from four to six per cent of all spaces fully accessible and one van-size space per six accessible parking spaces.
The changes will come into effect on April 23.
But according to Farwell it isn’t something the town is required to do at every location.
The act only applies to all buildings that are open to the public and built after Dec. 24, 1981. Service NL guidelines state buildings established before this date are exempt from legislation, unless they were renovated at a cost equal to or exceeding 50 per cent of the building's value since 1992.
At Town Square for example, a previous Beacon article tracked the location’s permit history back to 1965, with town maps indicating businesses in place circa 1959.
As a result, the majority of businesses at this location fall outside the Buildings Accessibility Act based on age.
But just because something doesn’t have to be done, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t, stated Farwell.
“It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “Particularly, in a community like Gander, we pride ourselves on being senior-friendly, so we’ve got to back that up.”
And the mayor is encouraging other parking lot owners to get involved as well.
“The fact that (a building) is grandfathered in should not be an excuse,” he said. “It’s about servicing the people that are using those buildings and businesses.”
It’s a move that is being heralded by at least two businesses at Town Square.
Darrell Pike, Gander Co-op manager, said additional parking space at Town Square is certainly needed.
“We do have times where people come in looking for space because the accessible spaces have been filled by other people,” said Pike.
“If we can get a couple of additional spaces at Town Square it will be certainly be welcomed.”
Royal Bank of Canada branch manager Geraldine Peyton said it’s something the bank has been advocating as well.
“We do recognize that blue-zone parking is needed, and we have brought this to the attention of the Town of Gander (in the past),” said Peyton. “Our understanding is that the town will be addressing the issue this spring.”
Mayor Farwell wasn’t able to provide an exact date when the work will commence. But he expects it will be soon.
“The painters will be out before too much longer in general, because after this winter there aren’t a lot of lines left down,” he said. “I would hope that within this cycle of repainting we will be able to accommodate the additional spaces.”
