Parking improvements coming to Garrison Village commercial strip

Niagara-on-the-Lake councillors have agreed to the town selling a piece of surplus land to a developer who says it will make parking easier and safer in the Garrison Village neighbourhood. 

Earlier this year, John Hawley, owner of the property adjacent to town-owned lands fronting on Niagara Stone Road and Garrison Village Drive, asked to purchase a one-metre-wide wide strip along the length of his property, approximately 150 metres, says a report approved at Tuesday’s committee-of-the-whole general meeting. 

Hawley, from Traditional Neighbourhood Developments, says the work that needs to be done is expensive, and that the land in question is part of parkland dedicated to the town when Garrison Village was built, which exceeded the required five per cent of property that was necessary to hand over at that time. 

Hawley cited costs related to an appraisal of the land, and said it will cost more than what the land is valued at. 

The initial recommendation by staff was to grant the request and sell it for fair market value, but an amendment made by Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa resulted in the town selling for a “nominal” price. 

The purpose of the request is to widen the drive aisle between the parking stalls to facilitate planned development through the Village commercial site plan agreement of September 2022, staff said.