BAGUIO CITY – The City Council is studying the possibility of revoking all the previous exemptions granted by the local legislative body to several building owners to use the Ganza parking area and other private parking areas in the city as their off-site parking spaces to correct their deficiencies in parking slots within their structures.
The recommendation to cancel all the previous exemptions that were granted to several building owners around the city was raised by Councilor Edgar M. Avila during the discussion of the confirmation of a memorandum of agreement entered between the local government and All Asia Structures, Inc. allowing the lease of 6 slots of the Ganza parking area to augment the company’s parking deficiency when it converted portions of its building along Otek St. to commercial spaces being rented out to tenants.
City Building Official Engr. Nazita F. Bañez informed local legislators that there were 33 building owners who were given notices of violation after they converted their designated parking spaces in their structures to commercial spaces with the warning that their failure to bring back their parking slots will constrain the local government to cancel their occupancy permits and eventually their building permits.
The proposal to revoke all the previous exemptions granted by the local government to the concerned building owners who converted their parking spaces to commercial areas was referred to a committee for study and recommendation considering the expected negative repercussion of the same to the conduct of businesses within the central business district area.
Some of the erring building owners entered into lease agreements with operators of private parking areas within the vicinity of their structures to augment their deficiencies in their designated parking spaces to prevent their occupancy and building permits from being cancelled while some building owners are eying the Ganza parking area as their alternative parking area to correct the deficiency in their available parking spaces considering that they converted their parking slots to commercial spaces during the course of the construction of their buildings.
Local legislators will discuss the matter with Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan during the executive-legislative meeting on Monday to ascertain the position of the local chief executive on whether or not there is a need to push through with the lease of the parking slots in the Ganza parking area to augment the deficiency in the parking spaces of buildings that converted their parking spaces to commercial establishments.
The CBAO chief informed local legislators that the occupancy of All Asia Structures Baguio, Inc. was already revoked after it was discovered that the supposed 20 parking spaces that it allotted within the structure was converted into commercial spaces thereby leaving only 7 parking slots around the structure that could be used for the said purpose.
However, some local legislators refuted the claim of the developer on the existence of 7 parking slots around the structure that could be used by its clients considering that it allegedly appropriated the sidewalk just to be able to establish the available parking spaces for the clients of the offices and businesses located in the building.
The return of the parking spaces that were converted to commercial spaces is being seen as one of the measures to ease the worsening traffic congestions around the city due to inadequate parking slots around major streets. By Dexter A. See
