Tokens will not be added to the list of ways people can pay to park in Orillia.
The Downtown Orillia Management Board (DOMB) had asked the city to look into the possibility of merchants purchasing tokens that could be used by customers in municipal pay-and-display lots.
“The owner of Mariposa Acupuncture indicated it would be beneficial to her business if she were able to purchase $1 parking tokens for the pay-and-display machines in the municipal lots that she could give to her customers/clients while they used her services,” the DOMB wrote in a letter to council.
“The ability to offer to pay for a repeat or good customer’s parking would be beneficial to many businesses in the core.”
In a report Monday to council committee, staff advised against it.
“Implementing a second subsidized system would be redundant” and would cause confusion among merchants and customers, said Lisa Dobson, transportation technologist with the city.
The city has a PassportParking app, which allows merchants to provide customers with a code to be used to add time to their paid parking in any municipal lot or at parking meters on the street.
Staff also noted the DOMB has received one request in two years to use a token parking system.
Council committee agreed with the staff recommendation, with Coun. Ted Emond saying, “We already have a token for parking.
“It’s called a loonie or a toonie. Why don’t merchants just hand them out?”
