A directional sign at Harrison Park in Owen Sound. (Matt Hermiz/Bayshore Broadcasting News)
Owen Sound council has decided against taking a closer look into a paid parking system for non-residents at some city parks and facilities.
In a 6-3 recorded vote at Monday night’s meeting, council rejected recommendations to have staff report back in the fourth quarter of 2022 with a business case regarding non-resident paid parking following an 18-week data collection trial to garner more information.
Mayor Ian Boddy, Coun. Travis Dodd, Coun. Scott Greig, Coun. Carol Merton, Coun. Brock Hamley and Coun. John Tamming voted against the recommendations for further study. Deputy Mayor Brian O’Leary, Coun. Richard Thomas and Coun. Marion Koepke supported them.
The vote effectively assures such a paid parking system for non-residents will not be implemented in Owen Sound by this council.
Tamming says he thinks the idea is well-intended, but misguided. He raised concerns about the type of message Owen Sound would be sending if it were to pursue looking at paid parking for non-residents.
“Here’s what I think people will hear. They won’t hear that ‘you have to pay to park here, or pay to park there,'” Tamming explains. “In a general sense, they will hear that Owen Sound is a place that kind of really doesn’t want your business all that bad. And I’m afraid that’s the message that’s going to go out.”
Council passed a motion during budget deliberations in December 2020 to instruct staff to do a study and bring back a report on non-resident fees for parking at the Bayshore Community Centre, Julie McArthur Regional Recreation Centre, Harrison Park, Kelso Beach Park, or others recommended by staff.
“All of these non-residents come to enjoy the four facilities for free. And there lies the problem. I am an Owen Sound taxpayer and I can’t say that,” says O’Leary, who introduced the motion late last year to have staff prepare a report. “I speak for the Owen Sound taxpayer when I say we can’t keep paying these operating and capital costs by ourselves.”
Council’s vote on Monday night against the proposed data collection trial — which would have cost an estimated $40,000 — and business case came after receiving a report about non-resident paid parking at city parks from City Manager Tim Simmonds.
The city manager’s report focused only on Harrison Park and Kelso Beach, not the Bayshore Community Centre or Julie McArthur Regional Recreation Centre.
Simmonds’ report estimates the city-wide parks five-year capital program supported by tax is $3.6-million and the draft 2022 parks operating budget is $1.8-million. The report concludes non-resident paid parking “could be a viable non-taxation revenue business for the city to offset a percentage of the ongoing parks operations and capital budgets” but staff did not have enough qualified data to establish a business case at this time to inform council about a implementing a permanent policy.
The report explains using limited data, staff estimate about 51,000 non-resident vehicles enter Harrison Park and Kelso Beach Park combined annually. Simmonds’ report also includes a “revenue assumption” based on vehicle data from Harrison Park and says “the potential annual gross revenue from non-resident fees are difficult to estimate at this time but could range from $100,000 or less to more than $1-million” annually based on estimated vehicle counts.
“I caution this is the most simple of calculations,” Simmonds told councillors.
Simmonds’ report also estimates the implementation of non-resident paid parking at Harrison Park and Kelso Beach Park would require one-time capital costs of $200,000 to $250,000, while creating new annual operating expenses of about $75,000.
The city manager also acknowledges in the report that no social considerations are included and further engagement would be needed to better understand how non-resident parking fees would impact certain businesses and user groups.