By: Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Essex Free Press
A majority of the Town of Essex Council voted to extend the ten-minute parking on King Street in Harrow, near the Post Office, to two-hours, after hearing concerns from Rob Duncan, Owner and Operator of Canadel.
“Parking is pretty deficient in Harrow,” he told members of Council at the October 20 meeting. When the stoplight was put in, he said around half a block of parking was lost to accommodate the infrastructure.
He said his family has had a business at 27 King Street West since 1966, and over the years they have witnessed a lot of changes; some good, some challenging.
Now, his business is running into a fair bit of 10-minute parking limits on the north-side of King Street, right across from his location.
“What I see on a daily basis is open spaces there and people having to park farther down the street,” Duncan said, noting it is around 180-feet between the end of the 10-minute parking spots and the first of the two-hour parking spots. He believes of the 18 parking spots on King Street West, five appear to be designated as 10-minute parking spots.
“I see a lot of people park farther down, then walk back toward our business, toward other businesses, unnecessarily,” Duncan explained, adding some may take their chances parking in the 10-minute zones.
He often gets asked by out-of-town shoppers if they will be okay to park in those spaces. He does not believe 10-minute parking spots are standard on the main street.
“I find it a very unwelcoming look to the town, especially after the streetscaping that took place,” Duncan said. “People came into the store and, probably 90 to 95% of my business is out-of-towners, so they come in, they’ve seen the streetscaping. If they’ve been to Harrow before, they’ve mentioned how nice it’s looking. And then we put up an unwelcome sign of 10-minutes only.”
He believes that it sends a message of “don’t hang around” to visitors.
Mayor Sherry Bondy agreed with Duncan in that the 10-minute parking needs to be reviewed.
As a business owner, Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley agreed that parking is everything.
“I can completely relate,” Shepley said. “I could see how that could be very problematic. I think there needs to be some sort of a limit…but 10-minutes is probably too short for your customers.”
He agreed with Duncan when he noted those who may not be from town may not know where they can park off the main road.
Shepley would be in some sort of support that would be of help.
In answering Councillor Katie McGuire-Blais’s question on the need for five 10-minute parking spaces, Director of Infrastructure, Kevin Girard, said the Town by-law requires the 10-minute spaces be located from the entrance of the parking lot to the eastern limit of the Post Office. That happens to work out to five parking spaces.
Councillor Joe Garron agreed the situation should be looked at.
Councillor Jason Matyi said he was surprised after the Harrow Streetscape was completed a few years back the number of complaints that came in. He suspects many didn’t realize they were 10-minute limit spots to begin with, until the new signs went up.
Councillor Kim Verbeek made the motion to remove the 10-minute parking limits, and replace them with two-hour limits – an addition Shepley added – which she believes would support the businesses in the area. The individuals who are using the Post Office are locals, and they can use the municipal parking lot that’s right there.
The By-Law will have to be amended to come back to Council for final approval.
She added that if there is a problem in the future, Council could consider looking at putting 10-minute parking in that municipal lot.
Girard recommended drafting a report on the matter first.
McGuire-Blais believed the entirety of the parking situation should be looked at, and thought Council was jumping the gun on the matter to ensure they are not creating a different issue. She voted against the motion.