On November 23, 2020 - Council approved the following:
A pilot project to temporarily amend Parking By-law 39-2016 to accommodate for 90 minutes of waived parking fees within the Burlington Downtown Business Area boundary until April 20, 2021; and
Direct City Staff to draw from the Downtown Parking District Reserve Fund to offset the impact of the associated loss of revenue; and
Direct staff to report back on the metrics with respect to the 90 minutes of waived parking fees, by April 2021; and
That metrics from the Burlington Downtown Business Association and Downtown Parking Committee be reported to Council on a regular monthly basis.
That the amendment take effect as soon as operationally possible with the understanding that the BDBA and DPC will continue to monitor and review the changing needs of small local business during the declared emergency.
Due to the lockdown and the current environment the 90 minute program was not given an opportunity for a fair trial nor were true metrics gathered. The DPC would like to submit a recommendation to Council for the following:
- That the current data collected to date is insufficient to judge the success of the program due to the overriding variable of the province wide shut down; and,
- That the 90 minutes of waived parking pilot program be extended by 3 months of “not in lockdown” business operations in order to more accurately determine the success of the program and/or if the program could be extended to the end of 2021.
Action: Staff and Chair of the DPC to submit a report to Council with the recommend of extending the 90 minute pilot program.