A decision on whether or not to allow a driveway in south Walkerville could lead to a broader discussion on parking.
Last year a home owner at 1850 Gladstone Ave. applied for a permit to install a driveway in front of the property, something that's not permitted in the area due to the availability of parking off a paved alleyway.
Windsor Council decided to give the resident the benefit of the doubt and tracked the on street parking levels through the summer of 2018, based on those results; administration is recommending councillors deny the permit.
The issue of on street parking has been an ongoing thorn in the side of Ward 4 Councillor Chris Holt — who points to the city's neglect of the alleyways as the number one reason on street parking is an issue, especially in winter months when snow makes them impassible.
But Holt tells AM800 News he agrees with administration's advice, saying yes to one resident would set a dangerous precedence.
"Besides being ascetically challenging, it also poses a problem for runoff and drainage, covering up all the permeable surfaces and adds to the threat of flooding," he says. "Administration is recommending that we again deny this permit and I'm of the mindset to agree with them again."
Holt says the focus needs to be on solving existing off-street parking-issues.
"Seems to be that my number one complaint that fills my constituency line on a daily basis; I just want to assure people that council is very aware of this situation and we are trying to at least alleviate the pressure," Holt says.
Holt lobbied from some additional funding in the 2019 budget, but not what's needed to get the job done.
"I can't get any traction on increasing the investment in our alleys," he adds.
Council begins at Windsor's City Hall at 6 p.m. Monday.