Parking in uptown Waterloo will soon get a little easier – but the price tag for that change has some refusing to sit idle.
City councillors approved Monday the spending of $2 million to purchase a site to be used for municipal parking.
The exact site remains confidential pending the completion of the transaction, but it is east of King Street, between Erb and Central streets and contains about 40 parking spots.
Patti Brooks, executive director of the Uptown Waterloo BIA, says it’s something her members had been pushing for some time.
“There’s a great need for additional parking north of Erb specifically,” she says.
Councillors agreed, with Coun. Karen Scian saying specifically that she only supported the idea because it was in the north end of downtown.
Coun. Scott Witmer was the lone vote against the project.
His objections centred around the cost.
“I think that’s significantly higher than what we should be paying to provide parking,” he said.
Before voting, councillors heard from Greg Michalenko, a resident concerned about the price tag and the need for the project.
“There are pockets of parking all over the place north of Erb Street,” he tells CTV News.
Calling the BIA “obsessed by parking, Michalenko adds that he’d rather see a comprehensive parking plan for the entire uptown.
Brooks says while the BIA did budget $300,000 to support increased parking north of Erb Street, she doesn’t agree with Michalenko’s characterization.
“We actually have more parking per capita than we need to,” she says.
“The challenges are convenient parking, and specifically the imbalance and the inequity of parking that’s north of Erb.”
The land purchase will be funded out of development charges and a city reserve fund.
