ELORA – Paid parking is coming to Downtown Elora.
At Monday night’s Centre Wellington Council meeting, council authorized staff to initiate a Downtown Paid Parking Program in Elora and to negotiate and execute a contract with Alpha Parking Solutions to provide paid parking implementation and services.
The program aims to manage parking demand, improve accessibility for residents and visitors, and generate revenue that could be reinvested into maintaining and enhancing the community’s infrastructure and tourism-related services.
The proposed program features two parking zones: Zone 1: Paid parking with high turnover (3-hour time limit) and Zone 2: Paid parking for longer-term parking (up to 24 hours).
The proposed hourly rate is $3, with a daily maximum of $15 in Zone 2.
Paid parking would be enforced seven days a week from 9am to 7pm.
Councillor Bronwynn Wilton liked the way the program was set up, which would see Centre Wellington residents eligible for free parking with registered license plates.
photo from report
Staff say future phases (i.e. Fergus paid parking and/or amendments to Elora) will be reassessed at a later date, informed by the results of Phase 1 and further consultation with downtown businesses and the BIAs.
Between May 23 to June 24, the township conducted a survey seeking residents’ preferences regarding paid parking options.
684 people filled out the survey, and when asked if and how paid parking should be implemented in Centre Wellington:
- 451 respondents (66%) answered that Paid Parking should be implemented for visitors only.
- 47 respondents (7%) said that Paid Parking should be implemented for all users (residents and visitors), and
- 186 respondents (27%) said that Paid Parking should not be implemented, meaning that maintenance of current parking assets and any additional infrastructure is to be funded by property taxes.
Councillor Barb Evoy wanted to know what the township was looking at budget-wise for the installation of the hardware to support the program.
Adam McNabb, Managing Director of Corporate Services & Treasurer, says the first year will draw a negative.
It is estimated that paid parking could be implemented by this fall.
You can read the full report here.
