A staff report going before a council committee is recommending the return of free on-street parking in the core.
The report recommends implementing a free 1-hour on-street parking program for the core area and a free 1-hour parking pilot program for two lots in Old East Village.
Both programs would run until the end of 2024 at a combined cost of $330,000. The money would be pulled from the Economic Development Reserve Fund.
“Parking demand in the Core area is closely linked to economic activity, building vacancy rates, employment numbers and other indicators,” the report reads.
“London’s Core Area is a vibrant neighbourhood and attractive destination; and Londoners of all identities, abilities and means can move throughout the city safely and efficiently.”
The original promotion was brought on as a temporary measure to help support businesses affected by both the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing construction.
The city extended the promotion last summer due to ongoing economic impacts on businesses.
Barb Maly, executive director of Downtown London, says this is a starting point for downtown’s recovery.
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“We strongly believe that it will help to further benefit our members and merchants, we’re still recovering from COVID,” Maly said. “COVID has hit our downtown small businesses the hardest and so all we’re asking for is some further support.”
While she’s in full support of the promo returning, Maly wants to ensure the program will be used to determine parking plans in the core.
“This is a time where we can collect more fulsome data on the free parking usage as well as reviewing other best practices from other municipalities.”
Kevin Morrison, the general manager of the OEV BIA, questions the costs proposed in the report.
“When I’ve been in those lots on my rounds and just checking out the area for all the issues we have, you’re looking at four to six cars at any given time,” Morrison said.
“We certainly want to change that and by offering at least one-hour free parking…businesses can have people park their car, go in, grab something and come out.”
Morrison adds that core businesses face multiple struggles, including vandalism and ongoing construction.
Feeling the struggles of core construction, Robin Pero, owner of the horticulture shop Grow and Bloom Co, hopes the program encourages more foot traffic.
“Anything that encourages people to come over here right now would be a step in the right direction because I don’t think we’ve recovered from the construction from last year to be honest,” Pero said.
While Pero has hopes for the new promotion, she has her doubts about its usage if it’s not marketed effectively.
“I’m willing to bet people don’t know about (the promo) and didn’t know about it before. And maybe they would be more inclined to come down if they knew about it.”
In the same vein, owner of Über Cool Stuff Kayla Gibbens says many of the entrances to downtown are either blocked or bottlenecked.
“We also suffered through the construction that was on Dundas, Kings, Queens, Ridout Bridge being closed. Now they’re working on Wellington,” Gibbens said. “It’s making it hard for people to get to, so any kind of incentive to help get people down here, the better.”
The staff report goes before the Community and Protective Services Committee on Monday.
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