Changes are being planned for the next season paid parking in Sylvan Lake. After what is considered to be a successful opening season of the program, the Town of Sylvan Lake asked for feed back from the public on what they liked and didn’t like.
A few of the issued discussed by Town Council, such as the placement and quantity of the the pay terminals, was reflected by the residents and business owners in town.
Before coming before Council at the regular meeting, a year-end report, complete with the responses from the public and stakeholder, was presented at the Dec. 6 Committee of the Whole Meeting by administration.
Council has decided the best direction to go when it comes to the pay terminals is to increase the number available.
Administration will be purchasing six new pay terminals which will be read out in the area. Specifically new terminals will be located in Centennial Park, the north-west corner of the lot on
46 Street, the northeast corner of 46 Street and Lakeshore Drive, the north end of 50 Street - adjacent to the strip mall parking lot and to the north-west section of the parking lot at Lakefront Park.
Another change made by administration, and approved by Council, was to reduce the number of zones in the pay parking areas. For the 2018 pay parking season there will only be two zones; one-street parking and lot parking.
Two parking terminals will be move before the pay parking season begins, to make it easier to access the terminals in those areas.
The Town will be developing a system to pay parking tickets online. This was considered to be a must for the program.
Another change is one for business owners in town. With the new season, commercial property owners will be able to receive four parking permits.
Previous to the final report by administration, Council approved a few other changes which will go into effect this season.
The first change is a time limit for on-street parking. Both residents and visitors will be restricted to three hours when parking on the street in the pay-parking area. However, residents are able to park along any residential street in the downtown during this time.
The pay parking lots are available for all-day parking, as are the free parking lots located on 50 Street and 49 Avenue.
Council also approved a change for those with disabilities. More disabled parking spaces will be added for the 2018 season, as well as those with a visible Disabilities Placard will be able to park in the designated spots for free.
There will be no changes for the program in regards to those from neighbouring municipalities. The Town will be increasing it’s communication to these areas to better state why the pay parking program is needed as well as why the municipality is not included.
The changes will cost money to pay for new terminals and software licensing. These costs were approved so as not to exceed a combined $68,500 and includes delivery and instillation of the new terminals.
The pay parking program will go into effect once again in 2018, beginning May 15 and running until Sept. 15.
megan.roth@sylvanlakenews.com
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