While the previous term of council approved a new transit hub and parking garage for downtown Orillia, Mayor Don McIsaac said he would like to see the city use its resources in other areas – at least for now.
The estimated $30-million transit hub and multi-level parking structure became a topic of discussion at last week’s annual Mayor’s Breakfast event, along with parking in the downtown more generally.
“If I had $40 million, I'm not building a parking garage on Peter Street. There's other things, there's homelessness, there's the opioid crisis," McIsaac said at the time.
McIsaac said residents have spoken with him about numerous issues they would like to see quickly addressed in the city, but building a parking structure on Peter Street is not among them.
“When I was talking to all the people, banging on doors, the parking structure on Peter Street didn't come up as ‘Hey, this is one thing you have to do right away,’” he told OrilliaMatters.
“Homelessness did, dealing with the opioid crisis did, helping people find a doctor, coping with the rising cost of living did, but getting a parking structure on Peter Street wasn't a priority that people talked about.”
The project, which was approved in concept by council in November 2020, comes with $7.3 million in provincial funding for both a transit terminal and parking structure, but McIsaac pointed out the city will be on the hook for the remainder.
“You need another $22 million to get it done, and that's just not walking around money that we have to take away,” McIsaac said.
When granted, the provincial funds came with the stipulation that they need to be used within nine years, and council approved the project anticipating the loss of hundreds of parking spaces in the city in the coming years.
McIsaac said he is well aware of parking concerns and transit issues in Orillia’s downtown core, and he would like to see the city address those issues in the future.
“Parking is a problem downtown, no question about it,” he said.
McIsaac said he is “not exactly opposed” to the transit hub and parking structure, but he would like to see parking addressed through alternative means in the near future, given council’s priorities.
During the 2023 budget deliberations, council approved a $1 per hour rate increase for numerous pay-and-display and street-side parking spots through the city, which will generate an anticipated $257,000 in revenue for the city.
“I had proposed that we double the parking from $1 to $2 an hour because it's an extremely, extremely low rate,” McIsaac said. “Half of that extra money would go into a reserve for new parking, and then half would reduce the tax levy.
“Taxpayers would get a reduction in their tax bill, and then we'd set money aside to be able to fund new parking.”
The Downtown Orillia Management Board is currently working on potential strategies to raise those funds, and they are expected to report back to council this spring.
“They think that, some of the areas, you should charge more for parking on the main street, and some of the backlots you should charge less,” McIsaac said. “They're looking at options in terms of raising that money, but when we get that money we'll be able to fund new parking sites.”
With transit discussions, as well, becoming a topic of debate in recent months, McIsaac said he is awaiting the transit advisory committee’s anticipated report, which will address means of improving the local transit system.
The city anticipates issuing a request-for-proposal for the transit hub and parking garage within the next couple weeks, McIsaac said, with construction of the project still subject to council approval.
