CORNWALL, Ontario – Cornwall’s Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) and the Le Village Business Improvement Area (Le Village BIA) have requested that Cornwall City Council continue its Christmas tradition of suspending parking enforcement in the evenings during December.
“As you know, shopping local is a pillar of the small business community and making it as easy as possible to draw shoppers to our local stores is a mandate that we have embraced,” wrote Todd Lihou, Centretown Coordinator in a letter to City Clerk Manon Levesque. “To that end, we are requesting that for the month of December parking enforcement in both of Cornwall’s BIA districts be suspended each day beginning at 4 p.m. It is our plan to communicate this suspension with our members by way of media coverage and social media posts. We realize that this request will have an impact on the bottom line for the city, but in the interests of improving the shopping experience for local merchants and their customers, we believe this request has merit. You will recall last year city council agreed to this request.”
Lihou went on to specify that the requested suspension is only intended to apply to paid parking spots and not the enforcement of parking violations, such as parking in front of a fire hydrant.
This is the third time that the BIAs have made such a request to encourage shopping local during the Christmas season.
Last year, the City chose to waive parking restrictions after 4 p.m. for the entire city, something that administration raised concerns over this year.
“Any revenue contraction is of concern, particularly as the 2018 purchase of replacement auto issue ticket devices and supporting software continues to impact the parking program Reserve Fund,” administration’s report reads.
Administration estimates that the total loss of revenue if parking restrictions were lifted after 4 p.m. for the month of December city wide would be approximately $7,200.
Council will consider the BIAs request at their meeting on Monday, Nov. 25.
