Newmarket is taking another look at its downtown Main Street parking time limits after concerns raised from businesses and residents.
Town council passed a formal resolution June 6 directing staff to review the 30-minute parking restriction with the Main Street BIA and report back. The parking time limit was originally put in place due to pandemic public health measures that limited businesses.
Councillor Bob Kwapis said the town would examine possible changes for daytime, evening and weekends.
“We’re starting to get a lot of feedback from the business owners and some residents that there may need to be some adjustments,” Kwapis said. “We’re asking staff to work with the BIA and work with residents to study and find out what does actually make sense. Maybe 30 minutes at this moment does not make sense. Maybe there needs to be an adjustment."
The parking limits have sparked a discussion with Main Street getting busier for the spring and summer, and public health measures lifted. Though the Main Street BIA has said there are benefits to the lower time limit to encourage more traffic to come through, some have complained that 30 minutes does not allow enough time to dine in a restaurant or to shop. The parking limit was previously two hours.
Mayor John Taylor said it works well to help with curbside pickup, but it is time for another look.
“There are some aspects that people thought this is good in some ways. It’s stopping long-term parking that maybe shouldn’t be there,” Taylor said. “We’ve created some benefits. So let’s try to ... find a balance. Maybe we’ll get it right the first time, but if we don’t, we can revisit.”’
The BIA said the Main Street parking spots would get fewer than 100 cars daily pre-pandemic. Now, it said they are getting four times that on a busy day.
“I look forward to the feedback as soon as possible from the staff, from the study, to understand what might work,” Kwapis said.
