Parking in Orillia will soon be more expensive.
Council approved a variety of rate hikes for parking in the city during Monday’s budget deliberations – including the first increases for on- and off-street parking in over a decade.
On-street parking and off-street pay-and-display parking are set to increase by $1 per hour as of May 1, up from their current rates of $1.25 per hour and $1 per hour, respectively.
Parking permit rates will see a 10 per cent hike May 1, as well.
The city expects to see $257,000 in additional revenue through the changes, which will be split between the parking reserve fund and reducing the tax levy for 2023.
As with other decisions made at the budget table, the move still needs to be ratified in a special meeting later this month.
Some members of council expressed concern at moving forward with the rate hikes ahead of consulting with other groups, such as the parking advisory committee and Downtown Orillia Management Board (DOMB).
Coun. David Campbell, council’s DOMB representative, expressed desire for the board to weigh in on the decision.
“I would suggest … that the DOMB also be given the opportunity to weigh in on this by the deadline,” said Coun. David Campbell. “We could call a special meeting if we had to, but I think, as this would directly affect downtown businesses, they should be given that opportunity.”
Coun. Jay Fallis said he would also like to gather more input before implementing the rate hikes.
“I'd prefer to do a bit more process before committing, so I'm going to vote against (this), but I'm not fully against the concept,” he said. “I just think there needs to be a bit more opportunity to kind of weigh in and hear out different organizations.”
Mayor Don McIsaac did not agree.
“(They’ve) had … years to think about it, so probably enough time,” countered the mayor during operating budget deliberations.
Council moved to require the parking advisory committee and DOMB to weigh in on the decision by Feb. 23.
Coun. Tim Lauer said he was not opposed to increasing parking rates.
“I don't think there's any harm done in … reviewing these charges and costs, and in another sense it's a good thing to get it over with,” he said. “We'll get feedback very quickly, and we'll know where we stand with it, as opposed to drawing it out over months and years.”
Residents in downtown Orillia gave mixed reactions to the proposed rate hikes.
Graham Hudak said he was not too concerned with the hikes, but suggested the city target tourists in town on the weekends.
“Parking is not that expensive here, (but) you’d think they’d do it on weekends instead of during the week and then get tourists’ money for parking instead of ours,” he told OrilliaMatters.
Peg Kavanagh, however, was not pleased with the hikes.
“You shouldn’t raise it by that much,” she told OrilliaMatters. “Why would they double it?”
“Right now, I’m finding as a consumer that everybody’s trying to recoup what they lost, and all at once,” Kavanagh continued. “What’s happening for me, personally, is I’m getting turned off … I just won’t buy.”
