One of central Ottawa’s main commercial strips will be saying goodbye to free parking if a city recommendation is implemented.
The City of Ottawa has been carrying out a parking study that proposes putting paid parking meters along Wellington Street in the Wellington West neighbourhood just west of Centretown.
The proposal is an attempt to curb parking and traffic congestion, and the city has been studying the area’s parking since 2015.
According to Zachary Dayler, executive director of the Wellington West Business Improvement Area, the zone met the city’s threshold to examine the parking situation.
“The magic number is 85 per cent. If your parking stock is being used to the threshold of 85 per cent, that justifies the city looking at mechanisms to turn over that parking stock,” said Dayler.
Dayler stressed that the issue is mostly about long-term parking when people leave their cars parked in a spot for a prolonged period of time. This could include employees at nearby workplaces or people who live along the street.
But businesses and residents of the area, which has undergone a redevelopment boom in recent years and was granted BIA status in 2008, are reluctant to see free parking go.
“Residents have overwhelmingly told me they’re opposed to paid parking,” said Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper.
There was an open house in March to share information with the public and local businesses about the study.
According to Dayler, the region’s BIAs, community associations and Leiper would all have to approve the plan before it could be implemented by the city. This is something Dayler doesn’t foresee based on the conversations he’s had with businesses.
“I don’t want to sway anybody’s vote, but I do not think it will gain approval from our members,” said Dayler.
There is currently a process under way in which local businesses can vote in favour or against paid parking. The voting concludes Nov. 18.
Even if the implementation of paid parking is voted down, there are other ways to curb parking congestion, according to Scott Caldwell, manager of parking studies for the City of Ottawa.
“While paid parking along the main street would help to better manage the situation, there are other initiatives that are being considered, which are much more localized in most cases,” said Caldwell.
He said other measures include adjusting parking time limits on roadside signage and better promotion of existing parking lots
Adjusting parking time limits is an idea that Dayler sees as a viable option. He views the varying limits as an obstruction to parking enforcement.
“Over on Hamilton (Avenue), on one side of the street, the parking is one hour, but directly across the street it’s three hours. There’s a whole variety of time limits and it would make enforcement a little bit easier if they were more uniform,” he said.
Regardless of people’s views, Dayler said he hopes they will approach the discussions with an open mind.
“There’s merits on both sides,” he said. “We fully understand businesses don’t want paid parking, but take a look at the information. It might not change your mind, but make sure we’re having an informed discussion on the topic.”
Many other neighbourhoods in Ottawa have moved to paid street parking, including Chinatown. That area operates on a hybrid system, with free parking on the weekends but paid parking during the week.
The BIA’s recommendations are scheduled to come out next spring. Following that, the final report will be submitted to the transportation committee for its consideration.