Two city councillors hope to tackle parking problems in west Orillia by opening up city parks to overnight parking through the winter.
At Monday’s council meeting, councillors Jay Fallis and Jeff Czetwerzuk proposed utilizing parking lots at Walter Henry Park, West Ridge Park, and Clayt French Park for overnight parking from Nov. 15 to April 15, with parking permitted until 7 a.m.
Fallis and Czetwerzuk won their peers’ support for a staff report on the potential costs for the idea during the 2025 budget deliberations, which — if ultimately approved — could see a paid overnight parking program roll out as soon as next winter.
Fallis said he has often heard of parking challenges from constituents in west Orillia, including issues with utilizing garages for parking on some of the neighbourhood’s lots.
“There's been a lot of challenges as many will know about overnight parking in the winter, finding spaces,” he said. “For many lots, their garages aren’t an option and they only really have one parking space … in portions of West Ridge.”
“It's challenging, so this was kind of the alternative to look at parking lots in parks as kind of an immediate relief option to help address the significant need.”
When asked by Coun. Ralph Cipolla, Fallis said snow removal would likely fall to a private contractor who could clear the lots after cars left in the morning — though the specifics are still subject to a staff report.
Cipolla also mentioned the city has a program to rent parking spaces in municipal lots, but Fallis mentioned it doesn’t apply to west Orillia.
“I don't know if there's any options in West Ridge,” Fallis said. “The concept of this program … is based off of what we're doing with several downtown lots … overnight during the winter, so it is modelled after that idea.”
