‘It’s just a cash grab’: Some businesses oppose evening, Sunday paid parking in ByWard Market, Little Italy

Motorists may soon have to pay to park on Preston Street on evenings and on Sundays. (Dave Charbonneau/CTV News Ottawa)

Some business owners in Ottawa’s ByWard Market and Little Italy are raising concerns about a proposal to introduce paid on-street parking on evenings and on Sundays.

“To us, it’s just a cash grab,” David Mangano, owner of The Grand Pizzeria, told Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Kristy Cameron.

A City of Ottawa report recommends extending paid parking periods at on-street parking spots to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays in high-demand areas starting in September, to encourage vehicle turnover in areas that have 80 per cent occupancy in parking spots.

• Motorists will need to pay to park on city streets in ByWard Market, Little Italy during the evenings starting this fall

If approved by councillors, paid on-street parking will be implemented in the ByWard Market and Little Italy South on weekday and weekend evenings and on Sundays, while paid on-street parking will be extended to 9 p.m. on weekday evenings in parts of the Glebe.

“It’s wrong. Basing it on turnover is just wrong,” Mangano said.

“The highest turnover time is between 5:30 and 9:30 – it’s what we call the quick shopping and the dining times. You have quick shoppers and diners; they come in, they buy some groceries, they buy their gifts, they shop, they eat and then they’re out.”

Mangano says free parking after 5:30 p.m. and on weekends is a “great incentive to bring people” to the ByWard Market shop.

“You have to be down here to experience it – there’s lots of turnover,” Mangano said. “People eat, they shop – they’re in and out in an hour or two and then they continue on.”

The introduction of paid parking on Sundays is the biggest concern for the owner of Di Rienzo Deli in Little Italy.

“I think it’s going to be very bad for business if they do that, because I don’t think anybody will come and park over there and get a ticket,” Paolo Di Rienzo told CTV News Ottawa.

“They come for having a nice meal, especially on Sunday, nobody gets a ticket and they’re very, very happy.”

Di Rienzo is urging the city to leave parking for free on Sundays.

“It’s very bad for business, it’s very bad for the people – we deserve a break too,” Di Rienzo said.

Staff say the recommendations for paid on-street parking changes come after a review of parking occupancy data during the spring and fall of 2023 and 2024.

“The purpose of paid parking is to encourage turnover which has the effect of making more parking available at any given point in time,” staff said in a report for the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

“This has the potential for a number of benefits. For example, visitors will have more choices and experience less frustration when trying to find parking at busier times. More available parking will also lead to less ‘cruising’ for parking, which reduces traffic and the resulting impacts.”

Coun. Tim Tierney, the chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, says the ByWard Market District Authority and some businesses have pushed for a review of parking.

“It’s not about the money; it’s actually looking at the businesses, what we’re hearing from them,” Tierney told CTV Morning Live Wednesday morning.

“It’s looking at some of the challenges the market has with parking. We do have a parking crisis that is occurring downtown. A lot of businesses would like to see people shuffling around.”

Tierney says the paid two-hour parking encourages people “not to park there all day.”

Here is a look at the proposed areas for extended parking hours on evenings and weekends:

• ByWard Market, Besserer and King Edward areas: Paid on-street parking extended to weekday and weekend evenings and to Sunday (paid parking currently in effect on Saturday)
• Little Italy South (paid parking on Preston Street south of Highway 417 as well as on adjacent streets): Paid on-street parking extended to 9 p.m. on weekday and weekend evenings and to Saturday and Sunday.
• Glebe South (Bank Street and adjacent side streets between Holmwood Avenue and First Avenue): Paid on-street parking extended to 9 p.m. on weekday evenings and to Sunday (paid parking currently in effect on Saturday)
• Downtown (between Bronson Avenue and the Rideau Canal, north of Gilmour Street to Parliament Hill): Paid on-street parking extended to Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Glebe North (Bank Street and immediately adjacent side streets between Hwy. 417 and First Avenue): Paid on-street parking extended to Sunday (paid parking currently in effect on Saturday). Parking will remain free during the evening.

As part of the proposed changes, parking fees for on-street parking in the Rideau (parking on Rideau Street and adjacent side streets east of King Edward Avenue) and War Museum (parking on Wellington Street between Portage Bridge and Vimy Place) will be lifted on Saturdays and Sundays due to a lack of demand.

Parking on streets in Vanier will be free on Saturday and Sunday, according to the report. Motorists must currently pay at on-street parking spots in the Vanier area on Saturday.

Wellington West/Westboro

When the city introduces paid on-street parking in the Wellington West and Westboro area later this year, there will be evening paid parking zones.

Staff say motorists will have to pay to park in the Richmond West zone until 9 p.m.

Paid on-street parking will also be in effect in the Churchill, Richmond West, Wellington West and Hintonburg areas on Saturdays and Sundays.

Councillors will debate the recommendations during the May 22 meeting of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.