Deep Dive: Parking Downtown
Point Form summary
- Understand where parking is difficult, when and for whom.
- Check whether there are enough accessible spaces on 30th Avenue, close to businesses.
- Review prices and time limits to balance customer visits with longer stays.
- Ask why HotSpot was chosen and how well it is working here.
- Explore shared lots and extensions to one-way streets and angled parking.
- Build on existing bike valet service and lockers as well as a safe east–west route for bikes and scooters to help reduce parking demand.
- Try possible improvements and consider more parking if the need justifies the cost.
If you have circled the block looking for parking, struggled to find a space near an appointment or wondered where to leave your car for a day at work, you know this issue matters. Making downtown easier to reach helps businesses and everyone who shops, works or spends time there.
Those needs differ. A customer may want an hour near a store, an employee needs somewhere affordable for the day, and someone with limited mobility may need a space right beside their destination. Our response needs to take all of them into account.
Understand where the pressure is
Downtown is changing. The City reported that Cultural Centre construction would reduce the 31st Avenue parking lot from 162 spaces to about 50, and several other lots have sold all their parking permits. We need to understand how those changes affect the people relying on them, as well as where spaces remain available.
I would start with the information staff already have and the experiences of businesses, residents and visitors. Where are people struggling to park? Does that change through the day, between seasons or during events? We can fill gaps in the information by checking those places at the times people identify.
That includes asking whether there are enough accessible spaces on 30th Avenue, close to businesses. The published information I have found doesn’t answer that question. People who use those spaces can help us understand both availability and the trip from a parked vehicle to a business entrance. Curb ramps, drop-off places and snow clearing must be considered too.
Make existing parking work better
Vernon already has public lots, a parkade, parking maps and short-term pickup spaces. The Transportation Plan calls for reviewing prices, improving parking information and technology, and making the parkade safer and more accessible. Before proposing changes, I would ask what has been done and what is underway.
Prices and time limits are part of how we keep spaces available. We need to continue to question if we have got the mix right. Do some parking time limits need to be adjusted? Is the pricing regime for parking supporting our objective allowing predictable access to parking?
We need a balance that gives people time to shop, eat or attend appointments while keeping spaces available for the next visitor. Affordable employee parking belongs in that discussion, as does avoiding spillover onto residential streets.
Paying should also be straightforward. HotSpot replaced PayByPhone in 2024, and the City has published some reasons for the choice, including lower fees and useful features. I would ask for the fuller comparison behind that decision and hear from people who find the app frustrating.
Explore practical improvements
Alongside those changes, we could explore sharing lots whose users need them at different times. A workplace lot might serve evening visitors, while another property might have spare daytime spaces for employees.
Street layouts deserve a look too. Could extending existing one-way sections or adding angled parking on suitable streets provide more spaces near businesses? Vernon has already combined these approaches on 28th and 29th Avenues.
These choices need to fit with another way to ease parking pressure: helping more people reach downtown on foot, by transit or by bike, scooter and other forms of rolling. A safe east–west route through downtown needs to be part of the discussion about street layouts, because parking and travel routes use the same space.
The Transportation Plan identifies cycling changes on 30th and 32nd Avenues. I would ask what has been completed and what is still needed to make the trip comfortable for people of different ages and abilities. Vernon also has seasonal bike valet service and rental lockers. Could longer valet hours or secure parking suited to short visits encourage more people to ride? A safe trip and a secure place to leave a bike work together.
We should try new ideas and see whether they improve access at a reasonable cost.
Add parking where the need supports it
If those improvements leave significant gaps, then I would consider adding parking. Any major investment should respond to a clear need, with a clear account of construction, operating and maintenance costs and the share taxpayers would cover.
But public land also has value for homes, businesses and public space. A project that combines parking with some of those uses may offer more to downtown than parking alone.
My approach
I would listen to the people using downtown, use the information and plans we already have, and be willing to test improvements. The goal is to make downtown easier to reach, with parking for people who need it and good travel choices for everyone.