Council has unanimously directed staff to suspend paid street parking in downtown Nanaimo and replace it with a two-hour time limit for the duration of the first phase of Commercial Street reconstruction.
'Design Commercial' work to refresh and revitalize the area is anticipated to take place until May 2025. This includes a curb-less street, buried structural soil cells for trees so their roots don't damage the sidewalk, street furnishings with integrated artwork, and retractable bollards along the gutter line.
While construction is ongoing, there will be a loss of about 30 parking space on Commercial Street, prompting a request from the Downtown Nanaimo Business Association to cover parking in order to mitigate the impact.
Steven Johns, vice-chairperson of the association, addressed city council on Monday, Sept. 9, explaining that while merchants appreciate the construction being done, the parking has become a controversy.
"We think it would help a lot of businesses feel more comfortable, and customers a chance to come down because we have lost parking in the one block."
While he requested both parkade parking and street parking be covered, staff told council that some companies have already leased parkade spaces for a set duration, which would create an equity imbalance if others could park there for free.
Council discussed the option of structuring a portion of the parkade for free time-limited parking for two hours, but came to the conclusion that between the two options, the street parking was more desirable.
Coun. Tyler Brown said he felt it was a way they could directly assist business owners.
"We can be flexible throughout the project if we need to be," he said.
Coun. Ben Geselbracht added that if members of the downtown business association expresses that the current measures aren't enough, they can explore further options.
"I know that there's going to be limited capacity and there's less on-street parking and if it is an option to do 10 or 25 per cent of the parking lot without a crazy amount of effort, I think it could go a long way…" Geselbracht said. "I'm going to put that out there, maybe that's something staff can explore."
A staff report for the meeting noted that by going with the free limited street parking, council can expect a lost revenue of about $55,000 through parking fees, plus the marginal cost of signs. It also noted that the goal of ensuring parking space availability "would likely be hampered by reduced turnover and may result in less actual parking space availability."
