It’s a good problem to have but a tricky one to solve.
That’s how some Port Dover merchants view the town’s parking problem.
Thousands of tourists visit the community to enjoy the Lake Erie beach during the summer. They shop, purchase food and provide a huge boost to the local economy.
But those day long visitors also take up valuable parking spots for extended periods of time. To address the problem, Norfolk County implemented a paid parking pilot project which ran from mid-June to mid-September 2022.
Visitors wanting to park on Walker Street, a portion of St. George Street, Harbor Street and Clinton Street between 10 am to 7 pm received an hour of free parking. After that, they were charged $5 an hour.
County officials introduced the project to discourage those planning to spend a day at the beach from taking up a valuable parking spot for an entire day. The pilot project included Turkey Point and Long Point.
But while the pilot project focused on specific streets close to the beach, the impact of the project was felt by uptown businesses including Stoney’s Home Hardware at 332 Main St.
“Our customers have a hard time finding parking because people don’t want to pay to park down there by the beach so they come up here,” Becky Cable, co-owner of Stoney’s said. “They couldn’t find parking up here because of the overflow from down there.
“People planning to stay at the beach for the day and not wanting to pay for parking come up here.”
Instead of paying for parking, families will drop off their chairs and inflatables at the beach and then look for a free parking spot uptown.
The owners of The Beach House are taking a “wait and see” approach to paid parking pilot project.
“It’s pretty difficult to say too much about it until we see the results,” Peter Knechtel said. “There is a parking problem in Port Dover and this was just a pilot project and the scope – the area it looked at – was limited.
“We’re sitting on the fence right now waiting to see what impact it had on the problem.”
Knechtel said the project did clear up some of the congestion in the beach area. But he added, some people had difficulty using the machines and some visitors were confused because it was new and unfamiliar.
Knechtel said he hopes the pilot project isn’t just seen as a way of generating revenue for the county. He’s looking for solutions that benefit everyone – those visiting a particular store, those visiting the beach for the day and local businesses.
Visitors to Port Dover are important to the local economy and the county needs to make sure that their visit is pleasant, Knechtel said.
Both Cable and Knechtel said parking is a problem in Port Dover. They also said it’s a difficult one to solve given the size of the community and the number of visitors during the summer months.
Meanwhile, county officials are eager to receive feedback about the pilot project.
The have launched a survey asking people a series of questions about the pilot project. The questions cover issues encountered while using a machine, the hourly rate and whether a debit card payment option should be considered.
To complete the survey visit www.engagenorfolk.ca/paid-parking-survey .
To learn more about the parking pilot project visit www.norfolkcounty.ca/living/norfolk-county-parking-pilot-project-2022/ .
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