A tight squeeze: Small Vancouver parking stall under review

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect further information provided by the developer.

A Vancouver condo owner is having some big issues over his small parking stall.

When Sunny Lee moved into his newly built condo unit, he was surprised to find his car doesn’t fit in his assigned stall, which is beside a pillar.

“Of course you feel frustrated. When you see this kind of stall, you feel frustrated,” Lee said.

“When my neighbour comes back I don’t think he will be happy because I am taking part of their stall but there’s nothing I could do, I just couldn’t fit in my car.”

But the developer says it “exceeds the dimensional requirements for small parking stalls.”

From the pillar to the painted line, the stall for the condo at Avalon Park 3 by Wesgroup is 83 inches wide, or 2.1 meters.

According to the City of Vancouver’s parking bylaws, small spaces must be at least 2.3 meters and even bigger if it’s adjacent to a wall or other structure. There is an exception that allows for a column to encroach on a stall, and then allows the stall to be smaller.

A measuring tape shows a Vancouver resident’s parking stall is 2.1 metres wide. (CityNews)

On Friday, Lee emailed the developer about the issue.

“I do understand your concerns, however, we are unable to make any changes to your parking stall allocation as all stalls have been finalized for the building. Rest assured, all measurements have been approved by the city, and the parkade plan passed through several stages of review by our consultants, as well as city staff in order to obtain the necessary permits to construct the parkade and buildings,” Wesgroup said in its reply.

In a statement to CityNews, Wesgroup Properties says it’s “verified that the parking stall meets (and exceeds) the dimensional requirements for small parking stalls per Section II of the City of Vancouver’s Parking and Loading Design Supplement,” pointing to an exception in the city bylaw.

“We have been in communication with the resident regarding these details,” it added.

However, Lee questions that response.

“Seriously, I don’t know how anyone can say this one is following the proper guidelines,” he told CityNews.

A Vancouver resident says he was surprised to find that his vehicle would not fit in his assigned parking stall when he moved into his newly build condo building. (CityNews)

Lee’s space isn’t even the smallest one. Walking around the parking garage Monday, CityNews was able to find a spot that was even tighter to pull into than Lee’s space.

The City of Vancouver confirms a case file has been created about the stall.

“Our inspectors are looking into this issue and will follow up with the resident, and if needed, the developer with next steps,” the city said.

Lee, who is a real estate agent himself, says he understands the value in using every bit of property you have. However, he feels developers are taking advantage of buyers by squeezing them into unmanageable situations like this.

“We all know that the real estate industry is probably the most profitable industry in British Columbia, but they are still trying to make even more money. That’s something I really don’t understand.”