Cathy Ellis BANFF
Banff’s downtown businesses are fighting a proposal for paid parking.
About 23 downtown retailers and restaurateurs have signed a letter to Banff town council, arguing that paid parking will be bad for business and perhaps turn tourists to nearby Canmore where parking is free.
The group said other options to fix the seasonal parking crunch should be explored, including making downtown parking only available to visitors from M ay 1 to Sept. 30, while still allowing limited parking for locals to visit the post office, supermarkets and doctor’s offices.
The group says paid parking, coupled with the suggestion of introducing a permit system for residential streets, would effectively create a cap on the number of visitors legally allowed to park in town at any one time.
“We need visitor numbers, occupancy rates and shopper numbers to increase, not be capped,” wrote the downtown businesses in a letter sent to council by businessman Richard Norton-Hall of About Canada gallery and gift store.
The group is made up of About Canada, Clock Tower Village Mall and Freya’s Jewellery & Currency Exchange, CT Style, Ammolite in the Rockies, Banff Avenue Brewing Co., Athena Pizza, Cabin 108, Smashing Cosmetica, Pad Thai, DonCath Holdings, Kees Vanderlee, Monods, Cascade Gifts, Jaques Cartier Clothing, Big Horn Gifts, The Bay, Ken McMurdo, All In The Wild Gallery, Canada House, Cascade Windows and McDonald’s.
The businesses say Banff already has a competitive disadvantage of tourists paying a fee to Parks Canada to enter Banff National Park – for example, $9.80 a day per adult, $4.90 a day per youth or $19.60 a family-group.
“Only 25 kilometres away, Canmore does not have that drag, but does have large amounts of free parking, spectacular scenery and equally good, and, perhaps, less expensive shopping, dining and accommodation,” the businesses said.
Banff is a town of about 8,200 residents for most of the year, but the daily population swells to up to 25,000 in busy summer months, forcing RVs, buses and cars to fight for limited parking spaces.
There’s currently an estimated shortfall of 125 parking spots in downtown Banff at peak times and, according to traffic experts, that’s projected to increase to 360 in 10 years and 600 in 20 years.
The municipality is considering paid parking, based on the advice of transportation consultants, as a way to increase parking space turnover and reduce congestion and gridlock caused by vehicles circling in search of parking.
Consultants have presented options to the municipality on what paid parking could look like, including potential rates from $1 to $3 an hour depending on the time of year. It could potentially generate a net revenue of $1.9 million to $2.4 million.
A 2012 survey found 72 per cent of visitors expected to pay for or were willing to pay for parking in Banff.
Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen welcomed the letter from the businesses, noting that all comments will be taken into consideration.
She said she did not know what paid parking scenarios administration will bring forward for council’s consideration, perhaps as early as May, so could not comment specifically until she sees the recommendations.
“I am concerned about finding real solutions for our parking challenges and our traffic congestion,” she said. “I am hoping that this council can make decisions that will have a real impact on improving both of those situations and I don’t know whether paid parking comes into that or not.”
Sorensen said she wanted to stress that paid parking is not a done deal.
“I have received feedback that this is all but a done deal, and it’s important the public understands that is not the case,” she said. “It is one option and consideration for council in trying to have a positive impact on traffic and parking challenges.”
Instead of paid parking, the group of downtown businesses says it make more sense to turn town centre parking stalls over to visitor parking only, to be signed and policed as such through appropriate bylaws.
They suggest certain caveats, including a timeframe of between May 1 and Sept. 30, as well as allowing a certain number of parking spots with limited timeframes for locals to park near the post office, doctor’s offices and supermarkets.
In the long-term, the businesses argue the Town of Banff should work on changing people’s habits, particularly those commuting between Banff and Canmore.
They suggest marketing Roam public transit through different methods, perhaps “try me out days,” or create a wider range of pickup and drop off points, and even consider introducing a ride-share system.
The downtown businesses said council should not be gambling with Banff’s economy.
“To a large number of people it is not fair that they have to pay to go into the national park and then have to pay to park. In the eyes of the average visitor, there is no distinction as to who is charging,” they said.
“There may be some fairness in paying for superior parking, so a future parkade would not necessarily have to be free as the user would then have the choice as to whether they wanted to pay for, say covered parking, or not.”
