Does Burnaby need 14 levels of underground parking?

A Burnaby construction project is receiving some pushback after one councillor voiced concerns about a 14-level parking garage.

“It’ll take 10 minutes just for somebody to park their car,” said Coun. Alison Gu, raising concerns about the 73-storey and 80-storey towers proposed at 9850 Austin Rd. and 9858/9598 Gatineau Pl.

The development passed through its third reading at council on June 5.

The two-tower project, called Pinnacle Lougheed, would be situated directly across from the Lougheed Town Centre area, which is also host to the Lougheed Town Centre SkyTrain station.

The proximity to a SkyTrain station and public transit also posed a problem for Gu. “I don’t think it’s realistic for anybody to be driving. It’s right across from the SkyTrain,” she said.

“It just seems ridiculous to have this much parking… Nobody wants to drive 14 levels underground.”

She requested that staff address the parking at the project and was advised by Ed Kozak, the city’s general manager of planning and development, that staff will be responding to council “very shortly” with a transportation impact assessment that requires a parking analysis to be done.

Kozak clarified to council that the proposed 2,700 spaces are the maximum that could be built and that exact numbers will be decided at a later date by Pinnacle International.

This isn’t the first time Pinnacle International has run into contention over the project either. There was recently a public hearing where residents voiced concerns about the “bigger picture” of the projects.

This includes the two other phases that Pinnacle International has planned to go forward with, which include another high-rise tower on the corner of Austin and Lougheed Hwy, and two more towers in its third phase.

The building is expected to return to council shortly with the transportation impact assessment, although an exact date has not been set yet.