Share your thoughts about Paid Parking

CENTRE WELLINGTON – In June 2023, staff retained R.J. Burnside and Associates to develop a Municipal Downtown Parking Strategy. The primary goals of the Municipal Downtown Parking Strategy are to:

• Assess Parking Location and Supply: Evaluate the current and future needs for parking spaces in the downtown areas.
• Examine Financial Aspects: Consider the economic implications of parking operations, including potential revenue from paid parking and costs associated with maintaining and expanding parking facilities.
• Review Parking Standards and Policies: Ensure that parking regulations align with the overall vision for the downtown areas.
• Create and Implementation Plan: Develop actionable steps to achieve the vision of vibrant, viable, innovative, walkable, and accessible downtowns.

In February 2024, Council received for information the Draft Municipal Downtown Parking Strategy Report.  Before final approval of the report, further public engagement on key recommendations is required, specifically on: 

1. Paid Parking:  Understanding public sentiment and gathering feedback on the potential introduction of paid parking in downtown areas.
2. Multi-level Parking Structures: Soliciting input on the development of multi-level parking facilities as an option to address future parking demands.

The Draft Municipal Downtown Parking Strategy looked at future parking demand and supply forecasts for the 2030 and 2041 horizon years.  This forecasting approach took into consideration future housing and employment forecasts, general growth of the downtowns, and zoning and land use policies.

The existing parking assessment indicated that during the peak hours:

• Elora currently requires more parking supply to meet the existing demand at desirable service levels.
• Fergus currently has sufficient parking supply to meet the existing demand at desirable service levels.

The future parking assessment indicated that in Fergus:

• By 2030, there is sufficient supply to meet anticipated demand at desirable service levels.
• By 2041, demand will exceed supply.

The future parking assessment indicated that in Elora:

• by 2030, demand will exceed supply.

To generate funds for future parking supply, the Draft Municipal Downtown Parking Strategy recommends a paid parking approach. 

We want to hear from you!

Before staff bring the draft report back to Council, we want input on paid parking approaches for Centre Wellington.  Please take a moment to share your thoughts with us on the following parking recommendations:

• Option One – No Paid Parking and maintain 3-hour parking enforcement.
• Option Two – Paid Parking for everyone and maintain 3-hour parking enforcement.
• Option Three – Paid Parking for visitors only and maintain 3-hour parking enforcement.

The survey will be open to the public until Sunday, June 23.   

Next Steps:

Staff will bring a report back to Council as part of the 2025 Budget process that will bring forward the Municipal Downtown Parking Strategy for Council adoption and outline parking implementation recommendations for beyond 2024.

For more information on the Municipal Downtown Parking Strategy, and to fill out the survey, please visit www.connectcw.ca