Parking changes coming to downtown Paris frustrate business owners

Grand River St. N in Paris is set to undergo a major change next year, but businesses along the road don’t support it.

Downtown Paris will be dug up next year as the County of Brant starts replacing aging infrastructure. At the same time, the county is also trying to modernize the area. It will be installing expanded sidewalks, new street features and the street parking will be changing from angle parking to parallel parking.

“Myself And 99 per cent of the merchants are not for it. It will remove half of the parking on the main street,” Leah Thomas, owner of Suzanne’s of Paris on Grand River St. N, said.

“Most people do not like to parallel park as it is, especially with the busy Grand River Street that it is coming and going.”

“I've actually had people say they will not come down if they have to parallel park, which is really kind of lousy,” Heather Ashby, owner of Heather’s Got Tea on Grand River St. N said.

“I do not believe putting in parallel parking is going to be conducive to a lot of traffic here, foot traffic. I think angled parking makes our town very quaint,” she said.

An image shows what parking spaces may look like after a redevelopment project in downtown Paris. (Courtesy: County of Brant)

According to the County of Brant, this change will make the area safer.

“By replacing angled parking with parallel spaces, the plan creates wider sidewalks and more pedestrian-friendly spaces, addresses safety concerns associated with reversing vehicles and accessibility,” the County of Brant said in an email.

Thomas argues it doesn’t make things safer.

“[I’ve] been here almost 40 years and there could have been the odd accident, but it has never happened while I've been here, while I've been working. I mean, parallel parking, there's going to be doors opening. I don't see how it's going to be any safer,” Thomas said.

“I understand that the infrastructure does need updating. I get that, 100 per cent. But I do think that taking away the angled parking is going to take away that really cool thing about Paris, Ont. that makes us unique,” Ashby said.

According to the business owners, when the plan was first presented in 2019, they voiced their opposition to the parking change and even put together a petition against it.

“I have talked to a few people on council about it, and I just think it falls on deaf ears,” Ashby said. “None of us have enough money to combat it. I'm almost thinking pitchforks and torches.”

Plans show how the County of Brant plans to redevelop the parking spaces along Grand River Street North in Paris, Ont. (Courtesy: County of Brant)

The majority of the businesses CTV spoke to said they don't support the idea, but one business who did not want to appear on camera told CTV many people try to park on the opposite side they’re driving on and ignore the signs telling them not to park on the opposite side. So many break the law trying to get to the angled parking. The business said parallel parking is safer, because people won’t be able to make those cross-road turns.

The other issue is that the change will reduce available parking from 58 angled spaces down to 26 parallel spots. Ashby said people living downtown can get a parking permit for certain areas, but don’t have specific parking spots. She worries this change will cause more visitors to take that space too.

“I think it's a really big mistake,” Ashby said.

Visitors said the parking makes the town unique, but they also know they can park in one of the lots nearby. There are free municipal parking lots behind Grand River St. N.

“I've seen this method before in another town, and I think it's okay,” George Whibbs, a visitor from Brantford said. “I don't think it makes a big difference. There's a big parking lot - we just came from it and it's free. You can stay there for an hour.”

Vehicles fill the spaces at parking lots near Grand River Street North in Paris, Ont. on Nov. 21, 2024. (Colton Wiens/CTV News)

There is also already parallel parking in the area on Mechanic St. which connects to Grand River St. N. The county adds it has or will be adding 117 new spaces at nearby lots to make up for the change.

“It's unfortunate, because the plan is already made and it's very costly,” Ashby said.