Lethbridge city council will discuss rescinding its April decision to implement paid parking at the Enmax Centre.
The motion, brought forward by Coun. John Middleton-Hope, says council has received numerous complaints from businesses and the public. It notes this highlights a lack of community consultation.
READ MORE: City to charge for parking at Enmax Centre starting in September
“The costs to implement paid parking, ongoing enforcement and maintenance costs versus revenue generation potential may not [have] been fully explored,” the motion says. “Council has been presented options that support the outcome of implementing paid parking versus other revenue generating strategies more in line with community expectations.”
If the motion is carried, council will direct administration to report to the economic standing policy committee in September with additional options to generate revenue for the Enmax Centre. It would direct that any resulting tax pressure be referred to the November 2022 economic standing policy committee budget deliberations meeting.
As it stands now, paid parking is set to be implemented in September. Doug Paisley, Lethbridge Hurricanes board chair, said the decision to implement paid parking was made without proper consultation.
He said the move was not only a detriment to the game day experience of fans, but moving to a paid parking model would make Lethbridge an outlier across the Western Hockey League.
READ MORE: Hurricanes’ Board Chair urges city to reconsider decision on Enmax Centre paid parking
