The City of Delta has come up with a draft anti-idling vehicle bylaw.
The Climate and Community Livability Advisory Committee has already endorsed the proposed bylaw, which is still under staff review before going to council for discussion and potential approval.
The exception under the bylaw only considers delivery trucks, which have registration cargo, but staff were asked by the committee to further investigate the possible business implications of not exempting all delivery trucks.
Council last year agreed to have staff look into an anti-idling bylaw, which was part of a comprehensive series of climate action change recommendations.
Noting it is part of the short-term action items the city can initiate, Mike Brotherston, Delta’s manager of climate action and environment, at the time said such a bylaw has worked elsewhere.
His report to council noted while Delta has implemented an anti-idling policy for its own fleet, a broader bylaw that addressed idling in the community hasn’t been adopted.
During council’s consideration of the application for a new drive-thru Tim Hortons in East Ladner a few years ago, concerns were expressed about idling cars, Delta’s drive-thru policy and minimum distance from homes.
Staff at the time responded that applications are considered on a site-by-site basis.
A staff memo on the application noted Tim Horton's parent company, TDL Group Corp., commissioned a study of the air quality impacts of vehicles using their drive-thru facilities.
For the five locations examined, the study concluded that a typical restaurant without a drive-thru creates more emissions due to vehicles starting up and travelling within the parking lot, and a typical site layout for a drive-thru facility produces no adverse air effects to adjacent land uses.
