After having helped slow the rate of increase for off-street parking fees last year, Mayor Lyn Hall is now questioning whether the city should be reducing them.
Hall said he's been getting questions about the Westel lot, in which it currently costs $87.92 per month to park, and whether it wouldn't make sense to lower the rate to entice others to fill the spaces.
"And I think that would extend for any site, quite frankly, if we're looking at a tremendous amount of vacant spaces," Hall said. "Better to make a dollar than have it sit empty."
As of March 1, the Westel lot, at Victoria Street and Second Avenue, is 32 per cent empty, which translates into about $7,700 per month in lost revenue, said bylaw services manager Fred Crittenden.
The lot with the highest vacancy rate is the Second Avenue parkade, which is 34 per cent empty.
Overall, there are 318 monthly parking off-street parking stalls sitting unclaimed, Crittenden said, amounting to a minimum of nearly $20,000 per month in lost revenue for the city.
"That is a concern of mine," said Hall. "If we're looking at that amount of vacant space, we're looking at somewhere around a quarter of a million dollars a year in lost revenue."
Hall's comments came during Monday night's city council meeting as the group approved minor changes to the fees and charges bylaw that sets out the allowed hours of on-street parking.
The bylaw says the two-hour parking time limit is in effect Monday through Saturday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. But the signs on the street restrict parking between the hours of 1 a.m. and 8 a.m. for snow removal and street cleaning.
Parking control officers usually begin monitoring the streets at 8 a.m., but the discrepancy in the bylaw means "in most areas, there is currently no bylaw offence until a vehicle has been parked for a minimum of two hours and it is after 11 a.m.," said a staff report.
The amendment switches the starting time in the bylaw for free parking to 8 a.m.
Crittenden said control officers began doing early-morning checks (starting at 7 a.m.) last week.
"That was part of the consultations with the business community - including DBIA and the Chamber of Commerce and some of the individual business people - that said they felt if we started enforcing the early morning parking regulations that would help with our problem parkers, if you would call them that - the ones that park all day long and don't move," Crittenden told council Monday.
Officers handed out 157 warning tickets and only had 12 repeat offenders.
"So the message is getting across that there are other alternatives to find off-street parking," Crittenden said. "And maybe some of that will translate into some of these vacancies being filled."
But the early-morning enforcement also made clear that a blanket approach doesn't work.
"I can see that there's a balance needed between making sure we've got turnover and that the rules are enforced, but also that businesses don't get surprised by that," said Coun. Garth Frizzell.
Crittenden said his department has been in touch with businesses, such as coffee shops that open before 8 a.m., to find workable alternatives.
"We have identified that there are some coffee shops and a couple other businesses that are open prior to 8 a.m. that are affected," Crittenden said.
