If weather is a conversation starter for Prince George residents, then parking is a local argument starter, a guaranteed way to incite high emotions and raised voices.
Passions run so high about parking that local businesses have sued each other over it. Former city councillor Cameron Stolz got so annoyed during a long public debate in 2014 about the merits of downtown parking fee increases that he blurted out: "For Christ sakes, can we at least get numbers based on science?"
Parking tickets are not mere pieces of paper. They induce instant spikes in blood pressure.
The mere suggestion of paying for parking in downtown Prince George provokes all-caps outrage with exclamation marks.
Local residents already pay for parking in numerous locations around the city, from UNBC and CNC to University Hospital and the airport. For all of these public sector operations, parking income is a significant revenue stream. Their mandate is to spend their public dollars on education, health care and transportation, respectively, not to provide convenient free parking. In other words, it's responsible of them to - at the very least - offset the time and expense of maintaining parking lots with user fees for drivers.
As stated in this space back in 2014, there is no such thing as free parking. Someone, somewhere paid for that pavement, that curb and that lot and is still paying to look after it. If Pine Centre or Parkwood shoppers think parking is free, have a look at the bill from one of the merchants. Just because the cost is invisible to consumers doesn't mean it isn't being passed on to them.
The parking policy taking full effect Monday in downtown Prince George is reasonable to a fault. Residents will still be able to park downtown for free for up to three hours each weekday to conduct their shopping, dining and business. Should they need more time, they will be directed to a pay station - much like what is already in place at the other paid parking sites in the city - to cough up an extra 75 cents an hour or shell out $4 for an all-day permit.
This policy also follows the recommendation made by both the Prince George Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Prince George for the city to focus on enforcement of the existing rules (and those who violate them), rather than bringing back paid parking for everyone.
The real target here are the residents who work downtown but have exploited the free on-street parking, running out on their coffee and lunch breaks to either rub out the chalk mark on the tire or move their vehicle. With the license plate recognition technology, neither option will work. There is plenty of off-street parking to be had close to their workplace for a relatively small monthly charge. For those workers that balk at having to pay for that, your employer likely doesn't pay for your vehicle, your insurance or your gas, so why should they - or the municipality - pay for your parking, too?
Local government already pampers drivers too much when it comes to parking. The argument can easily be made for city to charge a special events parking fee at CN Centre for concerts and Prince George Cougars games. Local taxpayers shouldn't be providing free parking for residents with the disposable income to see major junior hockey and expensive concerts.
As recently as 2007, the City of Prince George used to make a profit of $80,000 per year with paid on-street parking downtown but the meters were removed after the city starting losing money, diverting tens of thousands just to maintain and replace the meters that kept getting busted and robbed of their change.
The city considered investing in a $1.2 million paid-parking system but wisely backed away, going instead with the more prudent current option, which still offers limited free parking and enforcement using hardware that cost taxpayers just $172,500. Considering the public library takes in more than $100,000 per year in late fines of 20 cents per day on reading material, it shouldn't take long for the city to pay for the licence plate technology.
This is a great compromise between the expensive paid parking options offered in other cities, large and small, and the free, time limit parking offered in the other communities in the region.
