Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Jasper Municipal Council discussed increasing both the on-street and off-street parking rates during its committee of the whole meeting on March 14.
Although not yet finalized, the hourly rates would rise from $2 to $2.50 for off-street lots and $3 to $3.50 for on-street parking. Daily rates for off-street lots would rise from $12 to $15.
鈥淓verywhere you go, you pay for parking, and I think it鈥檚 important to raise a little, go forward a little every year,鈥� said Coun. Helen Kelleher-Empey during the meeting.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to go status quo then next year we go down on that revenue, because we don鈥檛 know what we鈥檙e going to face this summer. Last year, we had the fire and September set us back. We don鈥檛 know what summer鈥檚 going to bring, so I鈥檇 rather be up a little bit to kind of guarantee we鈥檒l get that $675,000 [which council has budgeted for].鈥�
The committee voted 4-1 to recommend that council implement the rate increase.
Coun. Scott Wilson voted against the motion and instead advocated for keeping the rates the same as 2022.
鈥淲e did really well last year and I don鈥檛 want to get greedy,鈥� Wilson said, adding how this year was likely going to be busier and thus see more revenue regardless.
Wilson had put a motion forward to recommend the rate freeze, but it was defeated.
Administration initially recommended only increasing the parking lot rates to $3 per hour, which would match off-street and on-street parking rates.
Mayor Richard Ireland, who was not able to stay and vote on the motions, worried about the impact of equalizing the rates.
鈥淲e structured this originally with a lower rate for parking lots in hope that people would park there and leave the on-street parking for quicker turnover to accommodate some businesses.鈥�
Coun. Wendy Hall noted that there should be a price difference since on-street parking offered premium spots.
The committee also recommended that council move to convert the upper McCready Centre parking lot to resident parking only.
Councillors Wilson and Wendy Hall both opposed the idea since residents already have free parking if they register for the resident permit program.
Another proposal was to make the McCready lot free for everyone, but administration advised against this idea due to the proximity of the paid parking zone.
鈥淚f you can park for free somewhere really close to where you have to pay to park, then it could potentially have an impact on our revenue in the actual zone,鈥� said Christine Nadon, director of Protective and Legislative Services.
In addition, Coun. Rico Damota made the motion that committee direct administration to come back with details about a bulk purchase program for hotels with limited on-site parking.
Damota also moved that administration return to council with a paid parking expanded program including the east off-street lot and on-street parking on Connaught Drive.
Both motions were carried.
Council will also consider changing the resident permit program to a one-time registration process with no on-street action required, a proposal which was discussed during the last committee of the whole meeting.
Coun. Ralph Melnyk previously suggested that the time limit for paid parking be increased to three hours in order to accommodate restaurant patrons.
Nadon warned that this could impact turnover and would also require replacing signage.
No final decisions were made during the meeting, and council is expected to return to this topic during its regular meeting on March 21.
