This winter, residents who would otherwise have no choice but to park on the street and possibly wake up to a ticket on the windshield will be able to leave their vehicles overnight at one of four municipal lots across Newmarket.
Every year from Nov. 1 to April 15, the Town of Newmarket forbids street parking between 2 and 6 a.m. to allow plows and other snow-clearing equipment to do their work without risk of hitting parked vehicles.
However, with many residents working from home or unemployed as a result of the pandemic, as well as more university students learning from home, a staff report to council states there may not be enough driveway or private parking lot spaces available to get all vehicles off the streets at night this winter.
As an option to residents unable to park on a driveway or private parking lot, Newmarket is launching an off-street overnight parking program at:
- Newmarket municipal office at 395 Mulock Dr.
- Magna Centre at 800 Mulock Dr.
- Ray Twinney Recreation Complex at 100 Eagle St.
- Downtown – P3 parking lot.
"Residents would be able to go online, put in their vehicle information, and specify how many days they require (the permit) for. All residents would be eligible if they identify a need, and it would be granted until April 15, 2021, when our overnight parking restrictions come to an end," Flynn Scott, manager of regulatory services, said at a council meeting on Monday.
The program is virtually cost-free for the municipality, said Scott, because it doesn't require any additional investment in facilities or staff, and the technology to run the program is already available.
"There is no physical hard copy of the permit required, the licence plate will just be registered (online) with the town. Each bylaw officer's cellphone has the ability to scan the licence plate and be able to identify if a permit has been issued."
The initial proposal was for all four parking lots to be available for overnight parking from 7 p.m. until 7 a.m., but councillors decided the town would be a bit more flexible about when people can start dropping off their cars for the night.
"Imagine that I've been working all day at Starbucks, and then I go park in front of my parents' house on the road, and then (I have to go back out to move it again at 7 p.m.)," said Mayor John Taylor.
"I think people would love to just be able to end their day and say 'OK, my car is over there for the night and I can relax,' instead of trying to finish dinner and then move the car again."
Director of public works Mark Agnoletto said the town can allow people to start parking before 7 p.m., although no specific start time was decided.
But there is no wiggle room for when the cars must be moved. All vehicles parked overnight must leave by 7 a.m. to allow municipal workers to clear any snow in the parking lots.
Councillor Bob Kwapis asked if more than four parking lots could be made available, arguing that some of the locations are not convenient for some neighbourhoods.
Director of legislative services Lisa Lyons said staff a review of all parking lots was conducted to which would be the most suitable, at least to start.
"We had to look at the risk of letting people use our lots overnight as one of the main factors. They had to be already well-maintained and have lighting, have adequate parking available, and a low impact on the operational resources we have during COVID-19," said Lyons.
Council decided that if more parking is required, the question of expanding the program to other lots will be revisited in the new year.
Details about registering for parking permits will be provided when it becomes available.
