Will new parking meters help or hinder downtown business?
Posted January 7, 2024 1:09 pm.
New parking meters coming to downtown Edmonton next week are being met with mixed reactions.
Some believe it will help clear up space for potential customers to visit the businesses in the area. Others are concerned it will drive business away.
The new meters, which are in the ground and ready to be activated, go into effect Jan. 15.
“This area really hasn’t had regulated parking. It’s one of the things that we’ve been discussing with the city probably since 2016,” said Laurene Viarobo, the executive director of the North Edge Business Association.
“People have many, many choices where they shop these days, and what we’re trying to do here is build a vibrant area.”
Nearby business owners tell CityNews that keeping spaces open for their customers has been challenging. People headed to Rogers Place and students at MacEwan University would often take advantage of the previously free parking spots.
Those owners welcomed the move to bring in metered parking spots, saying they’re already seeing a difference – several drivers coming to make use of the free spot were deterred by the meters, they say.
“We’ve been asking to have at least three spots just for the restaurant, and for my neighbour’s restaurant too, but nobody listened to us,” said Moufid Chaya, the owner of Wrap N’ Roll Express. “I said, then we might as well do it for money.”
But the North Edge Business Association says many business owners they’ve spoken to throughout the consultation process have expressed concern this will make bringing in customers more difficult, saying their clients don’t want to pay for parking.
“We weren’t in favour of that, and continue not to be in favour of that,” Viarobo said. “Many of our members do not want that, with maybe one or two exceptions out of a larger number, maybe 150. So I think that’s just where we are. We don’t have the solutions that we needed.”
The association says it plans to keep working with the city on solutions to improve life for businesses in the community.
