Mixed Messages About Parking in Downtown
Prince George, B.C. – “It’s a bit of a loophole” that’s how Bylaw Services Manager Fred Crittenden describes the problem with the parking signage downtown and the actual bylaw.
There are some signs in the downtown which say there are two hours of free parking, but doesn’t specify the hours of the day. Other signs say two hours free from 9 am-6 pm, while there are other signs which say no parking 1 am to 8am. But with the messages so mixed, the best the City could do is write 157 warnings to those found parked on City streets between 1 am and 8 am.
Then there’s the license plate recognition program which the City has set aside $450 thousand dollars to implement. A new RFP will be issued calling on potential suppliers to submit their proposals for equipment that would recognize plates on consecutive time, not “cumulative time” which is what the City had required. Problem is, there is no way to monitor if the vehicle left the downtown and returned to a different area.
When it comes to no parking times, “One size does not fit all for downtown” says Crittenden who notes some downtown coffee shops may be inconvenienced by that no parking rule until after 8 am.
“Parking in any City in the province is an issue” says Mayor Lyn Hall who says he received a couple of phone calls from people who received warning tickets for being parked on street between 1 am and 8 am. He says he still gets calls about the costs of parkade parking rates, with people asking why the City doesn’t reduce the rates in some parkades in order to fill those spaces.
Crittenden says the 2nd Avenue Parkade has a 34% vacancy rate, and the West Tel parkade has a 32% vacancy rate. Crittenden says right now, there are 318 vacant off street parking spaces, translating to about $20 thousand a month in lost revenue. Mayor Hall says that translates to a quarter of a million dollars lost each year “If we have that kind of vacancy rate, are we not better to reduce those (parking) rates in order to collect that quarter of a million dollars each year?”
Crittenden will be returning to Council in a couple of months with a full report on the parking situation.
Comments
How far can you reduce the parking rates for off street parking, without effecting the rates in the downtown parkades.
In any event, that seems to be a solution. Reduce the rates to encourage those who work downtown to use the off street facilities. This would keep them from having to move their cars four times a day, plus run the risk of getting a ticket.
As far as the license plate recognition problems goes, this program should be thrown in the scrap heap. They money saved $450,000.00 can go toward something more important to the City.
We need to encourage people to go downtown and park. Not find ways to keep them away.
Exactly Pal, there’s enough of the downtown abandoned already, don’t put more businesses in jeopardy. The city should start vacating the loitering vagrants rather than towing the vehicles of its citizens who ARE actually contributing to society here in PG.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha…
They raised the parking lot rates because the core review said they could raise revenue by increasing the rates and now the recommendation is to lower them so they can fill the lots and raise the revenue…
It would be awful if people parked downtown all day for free. Don’t they realize they have to empty there pockets and then immediately leave. It’s about turn over people, time is money. Besides, the one thing downtown doesn’t need is people thinking they can just go down there and hang out or have a good time.
32% vacancy rate ?
So they are running the downtown parking the same as the province runs the ferry’s.
If we charge more we make more… until people stop using it….and then we will charge more so less people will use it….then we will raise taxes to cover it and charge more…..and on and on
“Parking in any City in the province is an issue” says Mayor Lyn Hall
Thats funny I go south often , Kamloops for example has a pretty good system from what I’ve seen , easy to use .
Maybe they should let the staff at City Hall play a little game called Lemonade Stand instead of playing it in RL at City Hall
If the staff at city hall paid for parking how much revenue would that raise? Let’s see 700 employees let’s say only 200 park x $50/month = $10,000 per month x 12 = $120,000 per year.
Hmmm… We can do math too.I suspect that will not go to council, can’t have employees pay for parking.
I can hear the city manager now. Well that would cost us $10,000 per month to enforce and to get the information well we just don’t have the time. Sorry council.
Wonder what would happen if this was enforced? Would city employees park on the streets? I bet they would.
Another question is “free parking” for city employees a taxable benifit?
Who pays for the lit to be plowed and paved. Oh, silly question.
I don’t think council should pay for parking but that is only my opinion.
Years ago it might have been **OK** for City Staff, Fireman, Police, etc; to get free parking. This would have been considered some kind of a perk, because they were Civil Servants, and not that high on the pay scale.
Things have changed. City staff are now among the highest paid people in the City, and they continue to get free parking. People making substantially less money have to pay for parking.
At the very least they should pay the same as those people who pay for off street parking, or park on the streets, and move their cars every two hours.
Having City Staff pay for parking is actually something that needs to be looked at. There is no good reason in this day and age, that they should be treated any different than any other employee’s in this City.
The downtown parking fiasco just proves the point. If businesses ran the same way bureaucrats and Gov’t think and operate, bankruptcy would be just around the corner.
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