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Veterans - and reservists - can soon park free in Hamilton

cbc.ca
July 7, 2015

It's a move years in the making, but city councillors have finally approved free parking for everyone with an Ontario veteran's license plate - for now.

The city will start a one-year pilot project this summer that lets anyone with the veteran's plate park free anywhere in Hamilton. That includes current and past reservists, retired RCMP members and those who served in combat - as many as 11,000 people in Hamilton.

It's a long time coming, says Coun. Sam Merulla, who says late councillor Bernie Morelli tried to get it implemented for years.

People still have concerns, such as how much the program will cost and who should be included. But Merulla, a Ward 4 councillor and member of the veterans committee, says it's worth a shot.

"The intent is to have this as a pilot project for a 12-month period to answer everyone's questions and concerns," he said. "If they're warranted, so be it. If not, let's continue on."

The notion of free parking for veterans dates back to at least 2006, when the town of Midland started exempting its veterans from parking fees, said Marty Hazel, the city's director of parking and bylaw.

In 2009, Hamilton set up a permit program that exempted about 350 veterans from parking fees. Those permits were for Hamiltonians who served in the Second World War or Korean War, or who served in the Canadian Forces and were at least 60 years old.

The program costs about $91,000 per year. If 25 per cent of the 11,000 Hamiltonians eligible for a veteran's plate get one, the program will cost $715,000, according to city estimates.

Councillors had plenty of questions on Monday, including how many out-of-town people with plates will take advantage and drain resources. Merulla said Hamilton should be so lucky.

"That would be a good problem to have, to have non-residents coming in and parking en masse to spend their money locally."

But downtown business associations have concerns, said Coun. Jason Farr from Ward 2. They worry about the already tight number of street parking spots.

And cars with permits already take up many street spots, staff said. About 40 per cent of them are occupied by people with accessible parking permits, said Sebastian Stula, supervisor of parking services.

Coun. Terry Whitehead of Ward 8 also suggested that if young reservists or people who haven't seen active combat get free parking, then perhaps police and fire fighters should too.

"Where does it stop?" he said. "I understand that it's the spirit and it's populist. I just think it's a slippery slope."

City staff will try to answer various questions over the year, including how long veterans are parking, the cost of the program and the impact on businesses. Council also wants to know how many are from Hamilton.

That will be tough, Hazel said. City parking staff don't have the technology to scan plates and know who is from Ontario.

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