There is no such thing as free parking in Prince George.
Homeowners pay for their driveways as part of their home.
Renters pay landlords to park in the driveway.
For anyone parking on a residential street, taxpayers pay for that street and that curb.
For anyone parking at a shopping mall, the mall owners and merchants are paying for it (and they may be passing some or all of that cost onto shoppers).
Visits to the park or the library or the hospital aren't free, either, for the same reason.
So the notion that parking is currently free downtown is ridiculous. It's never been free. The city simply decided two years ago to stop adding a surcharge through parking meters.
The most important word in the phrase "downtown paid parking" isn't "parking," it's "paid."
The argument that there's lots of parking available downtown so why charge for it misses the point. There's lots of parking available at UNBC and CNC but those institutions would be considered irresponsible for not tapping into the revenue opportunities available from paid parking.
Although many residents talk as if the right to drive and park where one pleases is enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the reality is the City of Prince George is no different than any other municipality large or small in its efforts to seek tax revenues from people who park their vehicles in the city core. Mayor and council would be crazy to not put a price tag of some sort on downtown parking because it obviously has value, especially when they look at the money other cities collect from charging drivers to park on city centre streets.
That being said, there are other ways to do that besides parking meters and even a "free" parking system downtown could bring in dollars. For people who can follow the rules and park for two hours or less, they should park for free. For those who don't follow the rules (or think the rules apply to others but not them), the financial penalty should be significant.
As DBIA president Rod Holmes and others have pointed out, the city needs to get serious about collecting fines. Instead of penalizing everyone who parks on downtown streets, the problem is only the people who take up spots for too long. The current toothless fine structure must be replaced with hefty fines for parking too long. Unpaid fines should be sent to a collection agency where people are given the choice of paying their parking fine or damaging their credit rating. Furthermore, vehicles with outstanding fines older than 30 days should be towed on sight from downtown parking spots.
This isn't a new idea.
There is already a civic institution that practises this every day. The Prince George Public Library offers free cards (free parking) to all local residents. People who borrow materials for too long (parking too long) receive fines. If those fines exceed a certain amount and are not paid in a reasonable amount of time, the use of the card is suspended and the account is passed on to collections.
Like library books, downtown parking spots work best when everyone shares and people don't hog spots for extended periods of time, not letting others use them in the process. Like library books, those spots should be freely accessible to everyone but there should be fines for abusing the privilege and inconveniencing fellow residents.
