Jason Stockfish, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Council heard administration鈥檚 recommendations on a proposed resident exemption program for paid parking at the Feb. 8 committee of the whole meeting.
Any resident registered in a credit system would be exempt from paid parking for up to two hours per parking session.
Christine Nadon, director of Protective and Legislative Services, explained that the model would involve low-customer friction and a lower administrative workload but also less revenue for the municipality.
鈥淚n order to provide a program that residents will want to utilize and that will be easy to communicate, and that we know will get used, we鈥檙e suggesting two hours per parking session,鈥� Nadon said.
She noted that the two-hour recommendation would allow residents to simply register their vehicles at the start of summer, and they would not be required to tap in and out using a smartphone app when they parked downtown.
鈥淭he rationale for two-hour parking is that (existing) on-street parking will be at a two-hour limit, and therefore, from an enforcement standpoint鈥� it makes a lot of sense,鈥� Nadon said.
鈥淔rom a communications standpoint, it would be quite easy to encourage visitors to sign up for their account with the service provider once a year and not have to tap in and out.鈥�
An alternative recommendation from administration suggests the approval of an exemption program using preloaded parking credits for registered users.
Under the credit system, users would be required to tap in and out when parking in a paid stall.
This credit system would require users to log their activity, but it would also generate more revenue and potentially incentivize walking and other modes of transportation.
However, this option would also involve much more administrative work to keep track of all residents鈥� credits.
With this recommendation came concern from Coun. Kelleher-Empey for those residents without smartphones.
She noted that some elderly people don鈥檛 have smartphones, and they are often the ones with mobility issues who will be expected to pay at a kiosk if the credit system is implemented.
The final recommendation, but also the one with the least support from administration, was no exemption for residents at all to paid parking.
Nadon said this option would create the most friction from users and would occupy much of her staff鈥檚 time responding to complaints, as was the case in 2021 with the rollout of the project.
After much discussion, most of council had voiced support for the credit system, and a motion by Coun. Rico Damota in support of administration鈥檚 recommendation for a two-hour per parking session did not pass when it came to a 3-3 split vote, with Mayor Richard Ireland and councillors Wendy Hall and Kathleen Waxer opposed.
Coun. Scott Wilson was absent from the vote.
Coun. Ralph Melnyk then moved that committee recommend council exempt residents from the program with preloaded credits for any resident registering in the system to a maximum of 500 credits (hours) per year.
Melnyk added a second part to the motion, directing administration to determine a way to engage with individuals with mobility or technology issues.
In the end the motion passed 5-1, with Damota the lone voice of dissent.
Damota said the issue was being unnecessarily complicated by creating what he feels are imaginary scenarios, thereby making it impossible for him to come to an informed conclusion.
鈥淲e鈥檙e creating stories that don鈥檛 exist yet. Until we have better data to confirm what we鈥檙e assuming, it doesn鈥檛 make sense to make all of these assumptions right now.鈥�
鈥淲e have to find something that鈥檚 easy to use for everyone,鈥� he added.
A final decision will come before council at a future meeting.
