ELORA – Centre Wellington Township is preparing to launch paid on-street parking in downtown Elora on Jan. 5.
To be exempt from fees, township residents can now register their vehicle with the municipality.
Employees of downtown Elora businesses can also register for the paid parking exemption through their employer.
This does not make them exempt from the three-hour parking limit in the town’s core, or from the 24-hour parking limit in the zone around downtown.
Residents will still be ticketed for not observing time limits, council heard at its Nov. 24 meeting.
The main goal is for visitors to pay for parking and the revenue to be used for parking enforcement and downtown improvements – in a nutshell: for tourism to pay for tourism.
The township has been contemplating paid on-street parking in downtown Elora and Fergus for a few years after initially implementing three-hour parking limits.
The idea is to move people along so there is turnover in the prime parking areas.
Parking will be $3 per hour for a maximum $15 per day where long-term parking is permitted.
Councillors were concerned residents would be confused by the rollout, and may assume time limits don’t apply to them.
“There’s wording about that,” township treasurer Adam McNabb assured council.
“People are very passionate about parking,” clerk Kerri O’Kane agreed, noting staff is trying to get ahead of the “hiccups” anticipated in the early days and weeks of the rollout.
O’Kane stressed there is no rush for residents to register, but staff have been trained and are ready to take those registrations.
Parking will be paid by credit card through the township website or QR codes that will be accessible on signage throughout town.
There will also be parking kiosks where people can access the online payment site, as well as ample signage throughout town informing visitors and residents about the new policy.
Paid parking will be in effect seven days a week, from 9am to 7pm.
“At a high level, it is expected that annual revenues are expected to be in the vicinity of $350,000, with initial program capital outlay to be returned in just over one year’s time,” McNabb stated in his report.
Staff consulted with both the Elora and Fergus BIAs.
The Elora BIA was all for paid parking but the Fergus BIA was not.
Eventually it will come to Fergus as well, “but we don’t have a timeline for Fergus yet,” McNabb said.
Spokesperson Kendra Martin said she has held sessions at the Victoria Park Senors’ Centre and the Centre Wellington Community Sportsplex to discuss the new system – and she’s willing to do more.
For more details or to register a vehicle, visit centrewellington.ca.
