Parking regulations have forced the owners of Coast Mountain Sports to ask for a zoning amendment that would remove the need to provide 11 parking spots.

"It seems that we are reducing the overall parking burden to Main Street, if not maintaining it at the same level, and yet we are paying $200,000 for the privilege," Coast Mountain co-owner Mary-Jane Warshawski told council Tuesday night.

The former Taku Hotel/Bonanza Inn had no parking because it was established prior to parking spots being required under the zoning bylaw, but the change in use triggered the requirement for the sporting goods store.

Had the hotel opened with the current parking restrictions in place, it would have had to provide almost 40 spaces for the hotel rooms alone, with more for the restaurant, bar and retail space that was in the building.

Under the current zoning bylaw, the store can also pay $18,706 into the city's parking reserve for each space it can't provide, which would total $205,766 for the 11 spaces in this case.

Another option would see the store dedicate its spaces at a second site within 100 metres of the store.

That would mean putting a caveat on the parking property, though, to confirm the space would continue to be used for parking.

While the Hougen Centre has a parking lot on Third Avenue at Elliott Street, Coast Mountain owners Craig Hougen and Warshawski don't want to prevent the area from being developed down the road by having the caveat on it.

The change in zoning from Core Commercial to Core Commercial (restricted) would remove the parking regulation.

Warshawski called on the city to set a precedent by permitting the zoning amendment.

"Tell investors to come to Main Street; tell them, 'We'll work out the parking with you,' " she said.

Warshawski noted that while she and Hougen had the option of going to the north end of town near the big box retailers, as a high-end service retailer with a green philosophy, they opted to stay on Main Street after Please Mum moved into their former building down the street.

"We are not made for parking lot strip malls," she told council. "That's not the kind of business we do. We are owner/operators and we want to live and be on our Main Street."

With a belief in heritage as well, the couple bought a heritage building in purchasing the former Bonanza Inn.

"We didn't want to send the Taku to the land fill," Warshawski said.

So rather than tear it down, the couple opted for renovations that will also meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards with the store being built on the bottom and office space on the top floor.

Meeting the LEED standards means paying about 20 per cent more than they would have already for the renovations.

Those standards are important to Warshawski's and Hougen's business philosophy, Coast Mountain customers and the city as a whole, Warshawski told council.

The work will mean bringing sustainable, long-term development to Main Street, she added.

"Our goal is to make a healthy, sustainable and long-term profit," she said. "That's why we were not in this for the quick turn-around."

She pointed out that while the bylaw has the same requirements for all businesses in the zone, with Main Street properties having a higher assessed property value than others, it ends up costing more per square foot with the parking regulation.

"We don't want to send a collective shudder up and down Main Street as potential investors learn that there is, in fact, another type of tax on Main Street to the tune of $18,700 per parking stall," she said.

Warchawski also noted most of her employees either bike or walk to work, which means less parking is needed downtown.

This would mark the first time the parking regulation would be lifted if council went ahead with the request, planning manger Mike Gau told council.

While there were similar issues a number of years ago when the Tim Hortons at Main Street and Second Avenue opened, they were resolved when a three-way agreement was reached to share parking behind the Bank of Montreal next door.

Though the newest Starbucks to open, across the street from the Tim Hortons, initially had such problems, parking spaces between buildings were eventually found.

"Providing no additional parking for the new offices and store could make access to parking in the immediate area more difficult," notes an administrative report brought forward to council. "On the other hand, no parking may lead to only a marginal increase in the demand for parking in this area."

Council will vote on whether to bring forward the rezoning bylaw at its regular meeting on Monday.