ROTHENBURGER: Charge for overnight parking downtown? What’s next?

Take Bill Sarai, for example. He suggests the City charge people for parking overnight downtown.

I know. The parking issue — where experienced politicians fear to tread. Some of the social media reaction was that he must be some kind of dolt for suggesting such a thing. “Stupid,” said one. Haven’t the taxpayers been abused enough? And to think we voted for him, etc. etc.

That’s because the scant media coverage given his comments was vague, leaving open the impression he was talking about charging people who park in regular on-street spaces overnight.

Though some cities do charge for overnight on-street parking, that seems like a bit of a cash grab to me. The theory behind parking meters is that they discourage drivers from hogging parking spots. Keeping them moving helps businesses turn over customers. Not a lot of gift shops and clothing stores are open in the middle of the night.

In fact, though, what I heard Sarai say was that quite a few people would be willing to pay for an overnight space in a City lot. He distinctly referred to parking “lots,” not on-street parking spaces. For example, those who have two vehicles in the family but are allowed only one space in their accommodation could use a spot in one of the City lots. His thinking is that the City might as well make some money while filling a need.

He said the Kamloops Daily News lot is closed to parking at 7 p.m. I confess this one has me confused. I see no signage that says you shouldn’t park there after 7; in fact, the signs say free parking 6 to 11 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays and stats. Just last week I parked in that lot while attending an evening event.

Regardless, we aren’t supposed to park there overnight.

Overnight parking is free on the street in Kamloops unless there’s signage that says otherwise. Some cities, though, charge for overnight parking on their streets, and those are usually limited to personal vehicles — no logging trucks, etc.

Others provide exemptions for those whose properties have only one parking space, or none. Still others ban overnight parking both on the street and in city lots. And when the snow begins to pile up, all bets are off.

And let’s face it — though overnight parking on City lots and parkades is technically not allowed, anything without a gate is, in reality, available. Kamloops doesn’t have parking police on patrol throughout the night looking for vehicles that shouldn’t be there.

“We’re trying to be as forgiving as possible,” community and protective services director Byron McCorkell told me Friday.

When Sarai brought it up at the council meeting, he called the overnight parking issue “an easy fix,” and said liability shouldn’t be a problem overnight any more than it is during the day.

The City could charge people who need an overnight spot in a City lot $60 to $80 a month, he figures. That might be a bit steep, since most of the daytime permits go for less than that.

I wasn’t able to reach Sarai to follow up, but McCorkell says the idea raises quite a few questions. Such as, what happens if an overnight parker hasn’t moved their vehicle by the time whoever rents the spot during the day pulls in? What would the cost of enforcing overnight parking be, since City bylaws staff are basically off the clock after 9 p.m.? And what about that snow?

One reason overnight parking isn’t sanctioned is because people tend to start camping out and sleeping in vehicles, McCorkell says. He pointed to the Walmart experience — some Walmarts and other big-box stores allow camping in their lots, some don’t because it becomes a problem. “People will park anywhere and put their RV anywhere and then we have more issues.”

Whether Sarai’s idea has any legs, or wheels, remains to be seen. Since his inquiry doesn’t have the authority of a resolution of council, McCorkell will likely do a cursory overview and then ask council if it wants to spend $100,000 on a study. OK, I’m kidding about the $100,000, but a formal cost-benefits report would need to be done.

McCorkell and Sarai will be getting together in the next short while to talk about it some more.

Not all ideas amount to anything, but without them nothing ever gets done. At least Sarai is thinking.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

by Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Charge for overnight parking downtown? What’s next?

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