Arena parking to be reviewed
Councillor calls $125K in tickets ‘shemozzle’ that needs to be fixed
Edmonton parking officials have committed to re-evaluate the decision to charge for all on-street parking downtown on Rogers Place event nights.
Trying to juggle needs and hockey fan expectations, they’re also opening more on-street stalls near the embattled Lingnan Restaurant and bringing in tighter restrictions for Central McDougall’s residential neighbourhood.
“We want it to be fair and equitable ... so you don’t scare drivers away from the Lingnan,” said Coun. Scott McKeen, after taking flak for the $125,000 Edmonton has already issued in parking fines. “This is a shemozzle that we’re trying to carefully arrange.”
MacEwan University is also dropping its rates for parking underground, down $3 to $15 per night, and both Impark and Diamond Parking are dropping rates on some lots close to the arena for smaller events.
Oilers fans can still pay more than $30 per night for secure, underground parking at the Epcor Tower, but those caught in the crossfire at City Hall are hoping everyone knows cheaper, legal options are a block or two away.
The Lingnan, a popular Chinese restaurant on 105 Avenue and 104 Street, saw its business drop dramatically when Rogers Place opened, with pages of customers cancelling reservations and others running in for just a moment to apologize and say they couldn’t find parking, before heading elsewhere.
The restaurant responded by stationing an employee in a minivan outside every evening to catch frustrated customers and shuttle them from nearby lots.
But after a meeting with the city this week, co-owner Miles Quon said he’s optimistic. Parking officials will open 20 new spots across the street — on-street parking previously closed for construction access — and they’ll enforce the two-hour parking limit to ensure event-goers don’t edge out his customers.
“We don’t want to lose the customers who’ve been here year after year,” said Quon, a third-generation owner. “I’m surprised. It’s really nice the city is going out of its way to help a business.”
Edmonton has been criticized for not building a parkade beside the Rogers Place and the new community rink, with amateur players baffled they’ll have to carry their gear for at least a city block or take it on the LRT.
There are 18,000 stalls within a 10-minute walk and several lots just steps in any direction. But because the lots are private, city council can’t control the prices private operators charge for the closest spots and some fans balk at paying $25 to $30 a stall.
That’s why there’s illegal parking, said Coun. Mike Nickel. “When the price gets too high, it encourages cheating. There are limits to what you can actually charge people.
“The reaction has been visceral and angry,” he said. Just this week, several people told him, “I got a ticket and I’m thinking of never going downtown again.”
Other Edmonton residents have complained the new, steeper rates keep them from visiting friends, working and volunteering downtown. They’re still charged $10 per evening farther from Rogers Place.
Brian Murphy, general supervisor for parking management, said Edmonton will have a map by early 2017 highlighting which streetside spaces aren’t regularly being used by hockey and concert fans. Only 50 to 60 per cent are being used on event nights now.
Eventually, those little-used areas will likely see prices drop, he said.
“We’re still adjusting,” Bohdan Maslo, the city’s acting director for parking management. “This was new to everyone. It’s basic supply and demand.”
Impark senior vice-president Julian Jones said his goal is to stagger prices across downtown so not everyone tries to park right beside the arena. “As things stabilize, we adjust prices to make it right,” he said, adding they wants stalls to always be available when someone is looking. “These lots are typically not filling up entirely.”