Councillor Sampson calls for review of on-street parking in downtown and near UHNBC

The City of Prince George could be undertaking a review of parking in the downtown core.

Councillor Kyle Sampson has put forward a notice of motion on the topic, which will be discussed at Wednesday’s meeting.

“Parking in the C1 Zone area has been an area of interest among stakeholders, including the business community, and the public who visit the Downtown core,” Sampson writes.

“The current model offers parking free of charge for anyone in the C1 zone for a 3-hour limit, however, the positive of free parking is offset with the limitation that the 3-hour cap is not cumulative but is successive. This limits folks from visiting downtown multiple times throughout the day outside of a 3-hour window.”

“It is past time the City of Prince George undertakes a full review of our on-street parking model to both modernize it, and to meet the needs of the stakeholders and users who utilize and rely on-street parking to both enjoy the downtown core, and to provide parking for their businesses.”

Sampson noted the intent of the notice of motion is for a full review to be undertaken, which would include a stakeholder consultation, to identify a mixed model that meets the needs of residents, visitors and the business community.

“It is my intent that we continue to offer a limited window of free parking, to continue to incentivize folks to visit the downtown, but includes a paid model to allow folks to utilize on-street parking outside of a limited window without the fear of parking penalty that the current model limits,” he continued.

In addition, Sampson would also like to see city administration return to council with practicable recommendations to alleviate pressures surrounding on-street parking at UHNBC.

This comes as a new parkade for UHNBC is being built, leaving current off-street parking limited.

“The current system in the C1 Downtown Zone, and in the Hospital area is not working as it was originally intended, and as the needs of user and stakeholders shift, so should how we offer on-street parking,” he wrote.

“In the current model, people are receiving tickets simply because of a lack of understanding how the parking system works, and not only is that unfair, but it is obviously not conducive to creating a positive customer experience.”

Other items to be discussed at Wednesday’s meeting include a review of the Nuisance Abatement Bylaw, and an Addition to Reserve application by the Lheidli T’enneh.

The full agenda can be found here.