The five public parking meters located behind the Prince Albert Police Service Substation on 10th Street East will be removed and designated as Police Parking Only, following City Council’s approval at Monday’s Council meeting.
According to a report by Traffic Manager Evan Hastings, the Prince Albert Police Service (PAPS) requested that the existing parking meters be removed to allow for nine additional Police parking stalls in order to meet staff parking requirements.
“Although 39 stalls are designated as Police parking, the PAPS substation now serves over 40 staff members and 23 fleet vehicles,” reads the report. “For this reason, there are no longer an adequate quantity of stalls to support the staff utilization of the facility.”
The downtown substation provides training facilities, including a classroom and tactical training area, and a gym, which have become increasingly utilized since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, says the report.
Coun. Terra Lennox-Zepp shared her concerns with the request, noting that the Prince Albert Downtown Business Improvement District (PADBID) was not consulted with during the review process.
“I don’t really have an issue with removing parking meters, but to have them just designated [so] then the public won’t be able to use them if they want to walk to businesses or use the services in Macintosh Mall, etc.,” said Lennox-Zepp. “I understand why this ask is happening, but I’m not quite ready to just have parking specific.”
Since 2018, the parking meters have seen an average of 11 hours of paid public parking per stall per year.
“In the report, it says over a five-year period these have brought in $593,” said Councillor Blake Edwards.
With the minimal use that the parking meters see, Edwards said it doesn’t seem worthwhile to contact PADBID over.
“It’s obvious their people aren’t using these meters to enter businesses,” he stated. “It’s very minimal impact, there’s a lot of parking downtown.”
The Herald attempted to contact PADBID for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.