On Monday night, Prince George City Council voted to move forward with a new parking plan (previous article) for downtown Prince George.
The days of moving your car every two hours to avoid a ticket are now numbered.
“License plate recognition systems have been operating for 10-15 years throughout the world. There is quite a number of municipalities within BC that use it.” Bylaw Services Manager Fred Crittenden said
He pointed to Nanaimo as another city that already uses it under very similar circumstances.
The ‘downtown parking zone’ is being expanded significantly, with the time limit being bumped up to three hours. The new zone will include some residential neighbourhoods, Crittenden says they are still working out how parking permits would be provided to those residents.
The city is budgeting $450,000 for the new system, along with an overhaul of the signage across the area.
“Consistency and signage is important in any enforcement scope. That’s something that we recognize and want to make sure is in place as we move forward.” Crittenden said
He says that there are currently 330 vacant monthly parking spots in downtown Prince George.
Councillor Jillian Merrick said she had received feedback from the public that indicated that the system behind purchasing a monthly stall is outdated (right now it’s simply a phone number). She added that many would like to see credit card friendly machines installed in the hourly lots.
Crittenden assured that both those concerns would be addressed while they implement the new system.
The City is aiming to have the system up and running for Spring 2016.
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