On May 17, a proposal was made to Waterloo city council to install parking meters along Bricker Avenue, Ezra Avenue and Clayfield Avenue.
The reasoning for the motion was to increase turnover and reduce by-law infractions.
Phil Hewitson, the city’s director of transportation, presented the idea for pay and display parking in the area immediately south of the Wilfrid Laurier University.
The project would require that any parking on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. cost $2 per hour, being free for a limit of three hours beyond those hours. It would, however, still ban overnight parking on the streets between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.
After mailing informational pamphlets to residents effected by the proposal, Hewitson noted that only six responses were received, of which a mere two were in support.
Ian McLean, councillor of Ward 7 – the area in question – pointed out that one of the letters submitted by a Laurier student preferred the proposal if the pay hours were reduced to 4 p.m. rather than 6 p.m., further inferring that greater feedback is needed before proceeding with the proposal.
“Has anyone ever seen pay and display parking in a residential area?” asked Mike Milovick, an area landlord, pointing out another flaw of the proposal to council.
Although the report contained a letter from the Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union that Hewitson expressed was in support of the proposal, councillors Karen Scian and Diane Freeman remained hesitant on its overall purpose and benefit.
“I feel that we’re essentially targeting students,” said Freeman, who supported the move to defer motion to provide more time to research the impact of the project.
The project will be brought back to council on June 7.
