Residential parking app on hold in Saskatoon due to bylaws

A new parking app allowing homeowners to rent out their driveway as a parking spot won’t launch in Saskatoon just yet.

“Offstreet” launched in Regina in June, with several users taking advantage by selling parking spaces around the general hospital.

But the app is hitting a speed bump in the Bridge City. Saskatoon General Manager of Community Services Randy Grauer said the app encourages a small scale commercial parking lot in a residential area, which breaks a city bylaw.

“It’s just something people don’t expect in a residential area,” he said.

“You might run into a situation where people are paving over their backyards.”

Offstreet Co-Founder Matt Fahlman told 650 CKOM they were getting ready to launch the app when the city informed them of the bylaw violations.

“That’s when we hit the brakes,” Fahlman said. “We want to come to Saskatoon, but we aren’t going to pick a fight with city hall.”

He added they would sit down with the city and figure out how to launch the app, after Grauer invited them to present to the council transportation committee.

“We want to embrace as many of these opportunities as we can because they can be effective,” he said.