Business owners bring up 'confusion' over permit parking system

Chamber of Commerce writes letter to council on permit parking issues

Yorkregion.com
Dec. 7, 2016
By Ali Raza

Is the downtown permit parking system confusing?

At the town council meeting on Dec. 6, an item regarding the lease of a town parking lot turned into a heavy conversation of the parking system, recently initiated on various parking spots across town.

The actual motion wasn’t passed as council rejected the lease agreement with Century 21 Leading Edge Realty. If passed, the realtor would have essentially taken 21 parking spots from the downtown lot.

The discussion that it led to was over the efficiency of the permit parking system.

“Parking downtown is a major issue,” business owner David Barthau told council. “This enforcement will affect property values, we want to encourage people to go downtown.”

After calling the permit system an “extra tax”, Barthau listed what he believed were various issues with the system, including confusing signage and lack of non-permit spaces.

Councillor Rick Upton, also the council representative for the Stouffville Chamber of Commerce, read a letter from the chamber about parking.

“The chamber requests that town council approve the relaxation of enforcing the new parking policy,” the letter read.

“While the chamber agrees with the objectives of the new parking policy, its introduction and roll out have been confusing, inconsistent and require more public education.

Upton suggested giving warnings instead parking tickets until “the community is fully aware of the permit program.”

Mayor Justin Altmann went further, taking out a whiteboard and marker to convince business owners present to outright buy the parking spots for their customers.