The cost of parking in Orillia is set to climb, following a host of rate hikes approved by city council during its meeting this week.
New rates will apply for both on- and off- street parking, as well as monthly permit parking, with price hikes based on the usage and demand for the city’s various lots and parking spaces.
The changes are as follows:
- All metered parking spots on Mississaga Street East, and West Street North and South, will climb from $1.25 per hour to $3 per hour
- All other metered parking spots will climb to $1.75 per hour
- Off-street parking in ‘low demand’ lots (municipal lots 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 13) will remain at $1 per hour
- Off-street parking in ‘high demand’ lots (municipal lots 2 and 5) will climb to $1.25 per hour
- Permit parking will change to $55 per month for low demand lots (municipal lots 3, 6, 14), $60 per month for municipal lot 11, and $70 per month for high demand lots (municipal lots 1 and 7)
- Free holiday parking in late November and December will be eliminated
The new on-street parking rates will be effective May 1, and the new off-street parking rates will be effective June 1.
In 2022, the city brought in over $555,000 in parking revenue, with $155,000 coming from on-street parking, $284,000 from off-street parking, and $116,520 from monthly parking permits.
The current on-street parking rates, off-street parking rates, and monthly permit rates have been unchanged since 2012, 2009, and 2017, respectively.
During the 2023 budget deliberations, council tasked the Downtown Orillia Management Board (DOMB) and the parking advisory committee to find methods of generating an additional $257,000 in parking revenue per year, to be split between the city’s parking reserve fund and reducing the tax levy.
At Monday’s meeting, council was presented with three options: adjust parking rates based on demand, increase rates with a city-wide, blanket approach, or keep rates the same.
City staff carried out a benchmarking assessment, comparing the city’s parking rates with those of numerous municipalities, and recommended a demand-based approach.
In its report, city staff note that increasing the price of high demand parking spaces encourages residents to either find cheaper parking outside of prime locations, as well as shorten their stays in such spaces, which, in turn, encourages parking turnover and increases parking availability.
Council agreed with the recommendation, with Coun. David Campbell noting the rates may need to be altered in the future.
“I think the really important thing to note in this report is it states, very clearly, that finding the right rates is a real trial and error thing; finding that sweet spot is difficult,” said Campbell, who serves as council’s liaison to the DOMB.
“This is, I think, something that we'll try, and we may find that this is exactly the way it should be, and we may find we need to tweak it a bit in the future.”
Coun. Ralph Cipolla – the only member of council to vote against the hikes – questioned whether the rates were appropriate.
“We've just gone through COVID, and the merchants in the downtown, all the merchants … have been suffering,” said Cipolla who has been a downtown merchant for more than 50 years. “We have free parking in the township, free parking in most of West Ridge, and everything else.”
Cipolla also accused the DOMB of failing to carry out business consultation on the rate hikes.
“The BIA did not consult with other merchants … so that's one of the key issues here. I would strongly suggest that we maybe delay approval of this, and get the BIA to do a survey of all the merchants in the downtown, (about) whether they want it or not,” he said.
Campbell, however, argued that Cipolla’s argument was untrue.
“The BIA, the DOMB absolutely consulted with folks downtown, with the business owners, with their membership. That's the function of the DOMB, is to represent the membership and there has been ample opportunity for input, and input was provided,” he said.
“I just don't want anyone to think that consultation did not take place because that simply is not the case.”
Both councillors Janet-Lynne Durnford and Jay Fallis questioned the rationale for eliminating free holiday parking.
“The DOMB actually noted that free parking draws very minimal users to the downtown, and the BIA office received at least double the amount of tickets (for) the ticket forgiveness program because it causes a lot of confusion of what's free,” responded Lisa Dobson, a city transportation technologist.
“The members of the BIA have said it actually doesn't bring merchants to the downtown, and retiring that program would see the revenue increase about $40,000," Dobson explained.