Lion Place, Epsom - Parking restrictions Lion Place, Epsom - Parking restrictions

Proposal status: updated 12 June 2019

Reference number: RTV-228

We're making changes in your area

We proposed new parking restrictions on Lion Place in Epsom.

The proposed change consists of:

  • P120 restrictions, 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday along the first stretch of Lion Place.
  • P5 restrictions, 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday along the final stretch of Lion Place.
  • Broken yellow lines at the intersection with Park Road and at the end of the cul-de-sac, in order to improve visibility and accessibility.

The south side of the street will remain unrestricted.

Download the proposal drawing for Lion Place (PDF 206KB)

Why the changes were needed

These changes were needed to improve short-term parking opportunities and accessibility in this street. Currently, cars parked at this location for a long term can make it hard for short term visitors or people loading/unloading to find a parking spot.

Proposal outcome

This project will proceed with minor changes to the next stage of detailed planning. As a result of community feedback the broken yellow lines at the end of the cul-de-sac have been removed from the updated proposal.

Download the updated drawing for Lion Place (PDF 204KB)

Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback.

Feedback received

A summary of this feedback and answers to community questions and concerns:

  • Concern about 10 Lion Place having less car parks than units. Reports that some of the residents have not been able to acquire a park and depend on the availability of unrestricted street parking. It is common for there to be less car parks than apartments in many new developments, especially in areas with good links to the public transport network. On street parking is always subject to change, and it is the responsibility of the owner of a vehicle to ensure that they have sufficient parking to meet their needs. We do understand your concern, and as a result have decided not to include broken yellow lines at the head of the cul-de-sac (see more information below).
  • Concern this change will only exacerbate the issues residents have already, as commuters will continue to park here regardless. While this is a risk, the change could also encourage commuters to use the public transport network, which is readily available at this location.
  • Request for residential parking permits to be handed out. This area is zoned as a ‘Business Metropolitan Centre’ area in the Auckland Unitary Plan. We do not propose residential parking in these zones. If we were to offer residential parking, demand for permits would quickly exceed the supply as a result of the high density housing at this location.
  • Request for residents to be exempt from the new rules. We cannot exempt residents from a parking restriction other than under a residential parking scheme. Residential parking cannot be proposed, as has been outlined above.
  • Concern residents can’t park in their street if they come home before 5pm. The 120 minute parking restriction would apply 8am to 6pm. This means these parking spaces are unrestricted between 4pm and 10am.
  • Request to remove the broken yellow lines along the cul-de-sac from the proposal. There are no issues/incidents with turning here, and there is also a small T-intersection where people can turn. We have discussed this with our Traffic Engineers, who view the problem of cars obstructing the cul-de-sac as low risk. On this basis we are removing these restrictions from the design.
  • Suggestion to make the parking across the Ivory Apartments and Trelise Cooper available to all. This parking is on private property over which we have no authority. Any decision to make it available for general parking would need to come from the property owner.
  • Suggestion that residents, students, staff and visitors need all day parking. P120 is too short for a friend to visit. We propose time restrictions to encourage an improvement in short term parking availability and to encourage turnover in an area where there is currently none. The provision of all day parking is not a priority, especially given the close proximity of this location to the public transport network.
    The 120 minute parking restriction would apply 8am to 6pm. This means these parking spaces are unrestricted between 4pm and 10am.
  • Request for the parking to remain unrestricted, as there already is a lot of short term parking nearby. There is currently no nearby on-street parking restriction to encourage short term parking for customers of local businesses. While there is unrestricted parking, much of this is fully occupied by people parking long-term.
  • Concern this will decrease parking options for those visiting sports games. Due to the lack of restrictions there are already limited options for short term parking for visitors. Providing a limited number of spaces restricted to 120 minutes does provide an option. The removal of the Broken Yellow Lines from the cul-de-sac should further alleviate your concerns.
  • Suggestion that there is a bigger need for intermediate parking (4-6 hrs) than for short term parking. A 4 hour parking restriction would not encourage any short term parking and is easily circumvented by those wishing to park for longer periods.
  • Request for further visitor restrictions in the evenings, as it is hard to find a car park as a resident with so many visitors to gyms and other businesses around. Residents should be exempt from these restrictions. As outlined above, it is not possible to exempt residents from parking restrictions. The proposal has raised a number of objections based on the perceived negative impact of these restrictions for residents. As such it would not be appropriate to implement further restrictions, especially since these would be in effect during the time of the greatest residential demand.
  • Request to install broken yellow lines instead of P120, as this will make things easier and safer for drivers in the street. Related request for broken yellow lines along one side of the street entirely. Proposing No Stopping At All Times would not be appropriate in this situation and might have the undesirable effect of encouraging increased traffic speed.
  • Request to create some P120 or P60 parking spots at Mountain Road bridge instead. This will have a wider benefit and is already on parking patrol routes. There would be greater use of short term parking on Lion Place due to the presence of local businesses and apartments. The main demand for parking along Mountain Road would likely be from the school who have limited demand for short term parking.
  • Suggestion that the loading zone should be P15, P5 might just be a little bit too short for people to access the apartments. We do not propose loading zones with 15 minute restrictions. The 5 minutes does not refer to the time a vehicle can remain parked but rather the time which it can be left unattended whilst undertaking loading or unloading.
  • Suggestion the loading zone is no longer relevant as construction and moving trucks are mostly gone. Related suggestion for small loading zone on the west side, close to the T intersection. While need for a loading zone might have changed, there will still be residents as well as couriers needing to load/unload here. This location is central and its location close to a driveway allows for easy manoeuvring into the loading zone.

Next steps

This work will happen before Christmas 2019, but we will let you know if there are further changes or delays.

Our contractors will send notices to affected residents 48-hours prior to construction starting.