The Planning Authority has raised the amounts that anybody developing will have to pay when they do not provide on-site car parking spaces, making them uniform across the island, making them much higher for larger developments.
“The new revised rates will better reflect the market value of garage spaces and will be homogenous for all localities,” the PA explained.
A three-tier rate system is being introduced, whereby a one car space not provided for on-site will cost the developer €2,500.
From the third to the ninth car space not provided for on site, the developer will have to make a contribution of €6,000 per car space. From the tenth car space upwards a €10,000 contribution per car space will be imposed.
From the tenth car space upwards a €10,000 contribution per car space will be imposed
Not to adversely effect small businesses, the authority said it did not drastically raise the fees where there is a shortfall of up to two cars. The contribution is significantly steeper for larger developments and should act as a deterrent for developers that opt out of providing onsite parking.
The old contribution system, established in the 1990s, used a model which differentiated between localities which were part of the Commuters Parking Provisions System (CPPS) and those that were part of the Urban Improvement Fund (UIF) system.
A developer who did not provide parking on site within a CPPS area, except for Mosta and St Paul’s Bay, had to make a contribution of €2,096 per car space. If in Mosta or St Paul’s Bay the contribution would be of €1,863 and €1,164 respectively. Within localities which were part of the UIF system, a developer was requested to pay €1,164 per car space.
The Planning Authority is going to use money it collects from developers to support green transport.
The Green Transport Fund will be built up from part of the revised fees that developers will have to pay. It will then support capital projects that will improve the land transportation situation in Malta and Gozo.
While 70 per cent of the generated fees will still be directed towards the locality-based Development Planning Fund, the remaining 30 per cent will be directed towards green transport proposals called the Island-wide Green Transport Fund (IGTF).
The Green Transport Fund will be open to all (including ministries, departments, local councils, NGO's, private sector and private individuals) on a competitive basis with the Planning Authority then selecting the best projects for funding.
Proposals would need to tangibly show a reduction in traffic and parking related impacts.
The authority is also introducing for the first time a mechanism which will allow applicants to request a refund from the on-street parking contribution they would have paid. The request can only be made under two circumstances; that an applicant with a valid development permit signs a declaration that he will not be ‘using’ the planning permission or where the applicant, through a new valid permit, provides additional parking spaces on site.
Chamber accuses PA of 'arrogance'
The changes were immediately slammed by the Kamra tal-Periti, which said that the changes were made without consultation, and with only two days’ notice.
The scheme is disguised as planning policy intended to help alleviate traffic problems, but which is nothing more than a crude revenue-generating mechanism
“The Kamra tal-Periti condemns the behaviour of the Planning Authority, which is arrogant enough to triple, quadruple and quintuple its revenue generating mechanisms, without even consulting anybody in the industry, and without giving a decent notice to the principal actors in the industry,” it said.
The chamber also expressed strong reservations about a scheme “which is disguised as planning policy intended to help alleviate traffic problems, but which is nothing more than a crude revenue-generating mechanism”.
“After 20 years of the CPPS, does the Planning Authority have any evidence that the policy has actually helped alleviate traffic? Twenty years ago, planning thinking in Malta was that it was necessary for proposed developments to accommodate parking for private vehicles that, it was estimated, would be generated by the proposed development. This type of flawed thinking has already been abandoned in most industrialised countries."
It said the provision of more parking encourages the use of private vehicles as opposed to public transport, and therefore promotes road traffic congestion.
Research has shown that parking provision can actually be a disincentive against public transport, especially if it were free for the users of the building.
"The Planning Authority should have first studied whether, rather than promoting minimum parking provision standards, it ought to establish maximum standards of affiliated parking facilities. It could also have studied how many of garages in new developments are actually being sold to buyers of apartments, rather than left vacant, and hence not contributing to the envisaged alleviation of traffic congestion,” it said.