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On-street parking could come at a cost in summer

CITY HALL: Committee will discuss implementing a paid program during the season

A London politician wants city hall to consider allowing drivers to park overnight on city streets during the summer -- for a fee.

One year after a summertime pilot project let people leave their cars at the curb for free -- a plan scrapped during the 2010 budget talks -- Ward 13 Coun. Judy Bryant says the city should revisit the issue once again.

"As the city grows, there's going to be more pressure to have some kind of program for on-street parking," Bryant said Friday.

"It's just part of a growing city and becoming a mature city."

In London, on-street parking is banned from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. Last summer's project lifted that restriction from June 16 to Sept. 7 -- costing the city an estimated $140,000 in ticket fines.

During budget deliberations, with councillors also considering free two-hour downtown parking on Saturdays and in December, the summertime exemption was scrapped.

But in a letter going to council's environment and transportation committee Monday, Bryant is asking for a staff report on starting a paid program for the summer months.

One possibility, she says, is offering dashboard passes for $5 or $10 nightly.

Some committee members, however, wonder whether such a plan is practical, considering people often don't plan to park overnight -- opting instead to do so after drinking.

"At a bar at 11 o'clock at night, where do you get the permit if you didn't plan ahead? From the bartender?" said Bud Polhill, who suggested selling a pass that would last all summer. Coun. Paul Hubert agrees with Bryant's point that overnight parking shouldn't be forgotten by council.

"To me, it's summer, it's festivals, it's not drinking and driving," Hubert said of the potential benefits. "If there's a way to have a parking pass program, I'll be looking at that with great care