By Andrew de Souza

Parking rates and fines to increase

Mar 31, 2011 | 6:50 AM

Parking fees and fines will be going up as city council gets ready to give its final vote on the issue.

Council is set to give third reading to the update parking law on Apr. 11.

The update will see downtown hourly parking rates double, the cost of monthly passes increase and fines become more severe.

In the downtown core, the hourly rate will go up to $1 per hour, up from 50 cents.

Coupled with the increase cost of longer-term parking passes, the city expects to double the revenue it currently brings to about $41,000 up from $20,000.

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The city said that money will go towards new parking meters, some of which are more than 50 years old.

Because of the mechanical nature of the current meters, people won’t see the increased hourly rates until the new machines are installed.

The original plan was to have them installed by July, but it could take longer.

In a report from the city’s transportation department, the idea is to increase hourly rates in order to encourage higher parking turnover and combat all-day parkers who simply risk getting a ticket.

For James Banman, manager of the Prince Albert Downtown Improvement District Association, increasing fees and turnover is the only way to realistically serve downtown businesses.

“It’s going to increase the rates where it’s going be affordable for customers to park, but a little more deterring for people to park there all day,” he said. “There is no other option. In downtowns you either build up or you don’t — there is no build out.

“So the other solution would be to build high-rise parkade and frankly that’s not practical in Prince Albert.”

Handicap fines substantially increased

In addition to the parking rates increasing, fines for violators will also increase.

Most notable is the increase in fines for those who park in a handicap stall without a valid permit.

Fines are set to increase to $300 up from $100.

It was a last-minute amendment by Coun. Ted Zurakowski. He said higher fine are more about keeping the spaces free for those who need it rather than creating more revenue.

General parking fines will increase to $25 up from $20 with a $10 early payment option up from $5.

While parking meters affect the downtown area, the fines will be applied throughout the city and will come into effect within a few weeks of council’s discussion next week.

Increased enforcement

With the additional revenue from higher fines and fees, the city plans to hire another parking enforcement officer.

City director of finance, Joe Day, said the position won’t cost the city anything, since they will increase the number of tickets written for violations.

“The goal is to properly address some of those issues where people are abusing the parking rules, but we do anticipate it that there won’t be an net cost to the city because that person, once they’ve written a ticket or two in a day have in essence paid for their position,” he said.

adesouza@panow.com