Barrie council has denied a Simcoe County District School Board request to reduce the number of parking spots at high schools.

In a routine update of the city’s zoning bylaw, city planning staff was about to grant the school board’s request to cut the number of required parking spots from one for every 10 students to one for every 15.

However, some councillors said there are too many cars parked on streets near high schools – which shows the current 1:10 ratio isn’t enough – and the city shouldn’t consider changing it.

“I’ve seen it at Bear Creek (secondary school), the overflow that occurs with the 1:10 ratio,” said Ward 7 Coun. John Brassard. “On an ongoing basis, I receive calls. If we keep the ratio at one-to-10, it could mitigate problems going forward.”

Policy planning manager Merwan Kalyaniwalla said the school board requested the change because it anticipated fewer students will be driving cars, due to the elimination of the fifth year of high school and tougher regulations for new drivers.

“Be careful if the school board is suggesting it,” warned Mayor Dave Aspden, who said he received a lot of complaints from residents near Barrie North Collegiate about students parking on their streets when he was Ward 2 councillor. As well, earlier Monday night, councillors approved restricting parking on Newton Street, which is close to Barrie North.

Barrie Central history teacher Coun. Mike Ramsay, however, said despite the elimination of the fifth year of high school, it’s still tough to find a parking spot because some students are returning part-time.

“Even with the elimination of the fifth year of high school, I’m seeing more students coming back for morning or afternoon classes and working part-time; they need a car,” said Ramsay.