ELORA – While acknowledging it is an imperfect system, Centre Wellington council has agreed to continue the downtown parking and patio strategy for another year, despite opposition from several delegations.
CAO Dan Wilson presented a report at the April 11 committee of the whole meeting that outlines the staff recommendation to essentially maintain the status quo this year and devise a long-term strategy for 2024.
“We are working on a long-term strategy,” he said. “This is just for 2023.”
Extensive renovations to East Mill Street in Elora, expected to begin soon, mean the road will be closed for the summer.
So staff, in consultation with the Elora BIA, recommended that no other street closures should be allowed in the village until East Mill reopens.
In Fergus, Provost Lane will be closed from St. Andrew Street to the municipal parking lot that borders St. Andrew and St. Patrick streets.
This area will once again have picnic tables and umbrellas for downtown shoppers to rest and enjoy some shade.
Parking
There will be three-hour on-street parking limits in the two downtown areas, with a few designated parking spots with 15-minute limits. These are strategically located for quick drop-off and pick-ups.
Wilson said staff wants to use Alpha Technologies Systems Inc. to enforce the parking bylaw for at least another year.
Alpha was first retained in 2021 for a three-year parking enforcement pilot project.
About $122,000 worth of tickets were issued in 2022.
As Wellington County is doing the administrative work, the county retained about $35,000 and the township received $87,000.
The township anticipates receiving a business retention and enterprise grant from the county worth $25,000.
That, plus ticket revenue, plus $37,900 in remaining funds from 2022 will cover the combined cost of Alpha ($110,000) and the shuttle bus service, explained below ($40,000).
Wilson said the long-term parking strategy will consider whether parking enforcement could be done in-house or if it should continue to be contracted out.
Before 2021 the OPP handled parking enforcement.
In 2022, council approved a private parking bylaw to address unauthorized parking on private property. The bylaw works on a complaint basis.
Shuttle bus
The township will also continue the shuttle bus service it started last year and add a few more stops near places where there is parking.
The idea is for visitors to park on these outskirt locations and take the free shuttle to either or both of the downtown cores.
The bus stops include:
- OLG Facility/Elements Casino;
- new stop at 1 MacDonald Square, Elora;
- Bissell Park, Elora;
- Wellington County Museum, Aboyne;
- new stop at parking lot at 739 St. Andrew St. W., Fergus;
- downtown Fergus (Fergus Marketplace); and
- O’Brien Park, Elora.
This is the proposed shuttle bus route to run through Centre Wellington on weekends and holidays during tourism season. Council also looked at the parking issue at its April 11 meeting. Council agenda package image
The township will enter into an agreement with the owner of 739 St. Andrew St. W., at the corner of St. Andrew St. and Beatty Line, to permit parking and for the bus stop.
The municipal office at 1 MacDonald Square was added to move the bus away from the construction on East Mill Street.
The loop takes about an hour, end to end.
Township staff are negotiating with a coach transit company to provide the shuttle with capacity for 24 passengers at a time.
The shuttle would operate on weekends and holidays from 11am to 6pm. Discussions are underway with a local taxi company to offer an accessible shuttle option.
Patios
Most of the delegate complaints had to do with patios and no designated parking spots for residents who live downtown.
During COVID, when indoor dining was restricted, the township allowed restaurants to put patios on the sidewalk and in some cases, to spill onto the roadway in front of the establishment, as long as there were proper barriers.
In 2022, the previous council approved a permanent bylaw for this program and Wilson said the application process is quite extensive.
“While some of these patios take up a few parking spaces, the program recognizes the overall community and tourism benefits of having patios, cafes, and sidewalk displays as an option every summer,” stated Wilson’s report.
Several delegations spoke against the patios encroaching on township right-of-ways, forcing pedestrians onto the street and taking up precious parking spots.
“Please let people walk through town safely and park close to the business where they want to shop,” said Elora business owner Wayne Bridgman.
And for those who live downtown but don’t have an assigned parking spot, the three-hour parking restriction is difficult if not impossible to meet.
“When the season is on, I have to watch the clock and move my car,” said Mary Anne Neville, a downtown Elora resident.
“At the public parking lots, there’s a 24-hour limit. I could be towed if I’m not constantly moving my car.”
She was interested in the township instituting parking permits or offering reserved spots for residents who live in the downtown core.
Business owner Staci Baron, who lives above her store in downtown Elora, said public intoxication, public urination, noise and litter have increased in Elora since the patios were allowed.
“There is evidence of over-serving,” she said. “Vomit on our properties, noise – this is our life now.”
Baron said restaurants with a history of noise and other complaints should be denied a patio permit the following year.
“There’s a lack of process with the patio permits,” she said. “It doesn’t address if an owner deserves the privilege.
“If the OPP or bylaw are spending time lecturing a business, they should not be rewarded with a patio.”
Maclean Hamm said he spoke on behalf of owners with patios.
“They are vital to our business and the health of the town,” he said, adding the patios must close at 10pm and the noise bylaw kicks in at 11pm.
“The economic recovery (from COVID) is not over,” Hamm said.
“Patios create employment for an additional 50 people (in Elora) – the majority of them local youth.”
Councillor Lisa MacDonald was sympathetic to downtown residents and their complaints about noise and parking.
“I don’t want to create hardship for folks who live here,” she said.
“Is there a way of grandfathering, or giving passes?”
Wilson said a parking permit system could be part of the long-term parking strategy the township is undertaking.
Councillor Kim Jefferson wanted to know if staff had access to past bylaw complaints and if that factored into a request for an outdoor patio on township property.
“I’m not seeing anything about infractions in the policy,” she said.
Clerk Kerri O’Kane said since the bylaw is so new, she’d like it to stand a few more years before updating it.
“It would be nice to use the bylaw a few more years to see where, if any, there are shortcomings,” she said.
Council approved the patio and parking bylaws, “but I look forward to the long-term parking strategy,” said Mayor Shawn Watters. “It’s problematic.”
