A QUEZON City councilor on Sunday called out officials of two of the city’s barangays to address looming parking problems and traffic woes in their areas once two high-rise buildings are completed along the corner of Edsa and Aurora Boulevard and A. Bonifacio Avenue.
District 1 Councilor Peter Anthony “Onyx” Crisologo, a civil engineer, urged officials of barangays E. Rodriguez Sr. and Balingasa to ensure the tenants of the new buildings would not simply park their vehicles along the secondary roads there.
“While we welcome development, added revenues and job creation, we should also look at the traffic taking its toll on productivity of the labor force and health of the people,” he said.
He called on the owner and administrator of the mixed-use building rising at the corner of Edsa and Aurora Boulevard, under Barangay E. Rodriguez Sr. to assure the motorists and the public of unimpeded traffic flow in the area once its operations begin.
Crisologo also called on the building administrator of The Celandine, a 46-story residential condominium on A. Bonifacio Avenue, Barangay Balingasa to ensure that traffic would not be a problem.
“The building administrators must police their own ranks. They must not allow their tenants to park at the surrounding streets,” Crisologo said. “We know Quezon City is a mixed-use development. But traffic must always be a consideration.”
The Manila Standard obtained a copy of City Council Resolution No. 6857, authorizing Filinvest Land Inc. to construct high-rise facilities at the corner of Edsa and Aurora Boulevard near the Cubao Elementary School and allowing its deviation from the parking requirements of Ordinance SP-918 of 2000, or the Quezon City Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.
The Sept. 19, 2016 resolution, authored by District 4 Councilor Marvin Rillo, gave the developer the green light to push through with its construction on the 11,764-square meter project site requiring 3,481 parking slots.
“Thus, the allotted 1,185 parking slots (for the Filinvest project), as per plan, does not conform with the existing zoning ordinance, having a deficiency of 2,296 parking slots,” the two-page resolution read.
Another Rillo measure, Resolution No. SP 6851, authorized the issuance of a certificate of exception to DMCI Corp. for the construction of The Celandine on a 123,757.44-square meter lot on A. Bonifacio Avenue, near the Cloverleaf market in Balintawak.
“Whereas, based on the evaluation sheet made by the said office, the proposed project has a total floor area of 123,757.44 square meters, which requires 1,566 parking slots. Thus, the allotted 885 parking slots, as per plan, does not conform with the existing zoning ordinance, having a deficiency of 68 parking slots,” the Sept. 13, 2016 resolution read.
Based on the documents, the EDSA-Aurora Boulevard interchange is classified as a major commercial zone per notice and advice from the City Planning and Development Office, Zoning Administration Unit, and that A. Bonifacio Avenue is classified as a special urban development zone.
The city council approved the two resolutions, saying “whereas, the applicant has complied with the necessary requirements prescribed by law, ordinance or administrative issuances.”
A City Hall source said the minority councilors declined to co-author the two resolutions.