Zoning ordinance amendment eyed

September 14, 2020 Metro BLISTT

The City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) is pushing for the amendment of the city’s zoning ordinance that currently allows only one parking slot for every five apartments or condo units in a building.
CPDO Coordinator Archt. Donna Tabangin said that if possible, the requirement should be one slot for every apartment or condo unit or at least greater than the existing “one-is-to-five” zoning regulation.
She made the appeal in Monday’s regular management committee meeting at City Hall presided by Mayor Benjamin Magalong. Tabangin disclosed that her office regularly receives applications for permits to construct apartment and condominium buildings in the city’s outskirts with several of these having at least 20 or more units.
“Since these buildings are located a fair distance from the city center, it can be assumed that most of their renters or unit owners have their own private vehicles with only a few provided with parking spaces,” she said.
This being the case, she added, the rest will usually park along barangay roads or other places not reserved for parking purposes.
Tabangin stressed that this exacerbates the city’s already increasing problem of congestion due to its limited land area coupled with an ever-burgeoning population.
City Administrator Engr. Bonifacio Dela Pena said that while the city strictly enforces parking regulations and penalizes violators, he agreed that the zoning ordinance must be amended to require one parking slot per apartment or condo unit in a building. Magalong said that outdated provisions of the plan need to be updated and made relevant to the city’s prevailing situation.
Gaby Keith