City of Vernon Council approved the implementation of paid parking at the Civic Arena starting September 1, 2016.
When is paid parking in effect?
Paid parking will be in effect Monday to Friday 7:30am– 3:30pm. Parking after 3:30pm Monday to Friday, weekends and on event days will continue to be free of charge.
Why is paid parking being implemented?
The Civic Arena parking lot is part of the Recreation Services envelope of facilities and services and its primary function is to provide parking for the facility ice user groups. Although the facility is only open to ice users Monday to Friday 3:30–10:30 p.m. and on weekends 7:30 a.m.–10:30 p.m. from mid-September to April, the parking lot is used on a daily basis throughout the year by 85-100 commuters.
Recreation Services has received no revenue from the lot while being responsible for all of the costs associated with maintaining it, including grading, repairs, snow plowing and removal, clean-up, etc. Costs to maintain the Civic Arena parking lot continue to increase and Recreation Services needs to generate new revenue to recover some of these costs without impacting the cost to participate in recreation programs and activities.
What will be done to prepare the parking lot?
Work that will be done to prepare the lot includes but may not be limited to blacktop repair, grading as required, catch basin maintenance, alignment of parking rows, sweeping and the installation of signage and a permit dispenser. Numbered stalls will not be put in place. The sale of monthly passes will be limited in number to ensure that the lot is not oversold.
What will it cost to park in the lot?
The fees for parking will be $.50 per hour, $1 for two hours, $2 for four hours, $3 per day, $12 per week and $43 for a monthly pass. These costs are the same or lower than other paid parking lots in the downtown area.
How do I pay for parking?
There will be a permit dispenser located in the lot that will provide hourly, daily and weekly permits. Monthly passes will be available for purchase at both the Recreation Centre and City Hall starting on Thursday, September 1. Once the City of Vernon initiates the pay by phone option it will also be made available for the Civic Arena parking lot. City of Vernon Bylaw will be monitoring the lot for permits and passes.
Who can I contact?
For further information contact Recreation Services at arenas@vernon.ca or 250-542-5623. For maintenance issues contact arenaops@vernon.ca. For parking violations call City of Vernon Bylaw Compliance at 250-550-3505.