It could soon cost you a lot more to park in front of a meter in downtown Kelowna. City Council will review an extensive parking management strategy report Monday which includes a suggested increase for on-street meter parking from 50¢ an hour to $1.25 an hour. Long-term parking rates in city owned off-street parking lots would also increase in an effort to support use of alternate transportation modes. The new off-street rates would also bring city rates in line with rates charged by private parking lot operators. The new base rates for off-street parking lots are suggested as follows:
In a report for council, it is suggested off-street parking remain lower than on-street rates to encourage short-term use while daily rates remain, at a minimum, higher than the price of a two-way transit trip which is currently set at $4.50. It is anticipated the new rates, if approved by council, would come into affect June 1, 2014. Meters that do not accept $2 coins would remain at the current rate until they have been upgraded. In his report, Real Estate Director Derek Edstrom says the increased fees will help the city offset the costs of providing parking including new infrastructure, maintenance, equipment, enforcement, upgrades, customer service applications, replacement of existing infrastructure, land acquisition and management. Edstrom further states the city's Downtown Parking Reserve will have a deficit of $3M by the end of 2016 using existing rates. He says the new base rates would eliminate any deficit by 2017 and the reserve would again be available to fund future parking infrastructure.
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