Shoppers will able to spend an extra hour downtown without having to worry about a parking ticket.
On Thursday council approved extending the time limit for downtown parking zones from one to two hours. Some areas already had a two-hour limit, but the Downtown Business Improvement Association asked if the rest could be standardized.
BIA chair Heather Gordon Murphy said with the number of downtown businesses growing, one hour parking does not allow customers enough time to explore and shop.
Council agreed and Coun. Sean Smyth thanked the BIA for making the request.
“I’d like to thank the BIA for reaching out on this and making the recommendation to us, anything we can do to help the businesses downtown, it’s very important to us,” he said. “I think it’s a great idea. When the need changes, we need to change to meet it.”
There are several zones in the downtown area that have free all-day parking, including the Maritime Heritage Centre and the Tyee Plaza.
The city’s parking map can be found on the last page of this document.
