Northern Bruce Peninsula is making a change to the paid parking system this year, but won’t be adding Big Tub Road to the reservation system.
Council approved having a parking attendant at the McCurdy paid parking site move more vehicles to Moore and Joseph Street during the peak season to prevent an overflow of traffic and to hold off on adding Big Tub Road to the park pass reservation system this year during a meeting on Jan. 8.
This update to the paid parking system comes after council recently received a year end update, in which the municipality raked in over $100,000 in revenue.
There are currently paid parking areas in Tobermory, Big Tub Road, The Gap, Grant Watson Drive, Dunks Bay, Little Cove, Dorcas Bay Road, Dyers Bay, Borchardt Road, Carter Road, Lion’s Head, and McCurdy Drive.
In the recent update, it was recommended most of these locations continue to operate as they are.
In the recommendation brought forward to council on Jan. 8 from Chief Bylaw Officer Carol Hopkins, it initially recommended Big Tub Road be added to the park pass reservation system for a one year pilot.
The reservation system gives people the chance to book a parking spot ahead of time online. A list of paid parking areas can be found on the municipal website here.
Coun. Laurie Golden, however, suggested they hold off on including this paid parking location to the system as it is not somewhere people often travel.
“The feedback I get and from my own personal opinion is that Big Tub is not a suitable place, even for a one year pilot project for the park pass,” says Golden. “The park pass to me doesn’t apply to Big Tub and at the very least, I think we should wait and ask the Chamber of Commerce and some of the business owners, the people who deal with people on a daily basis, what they feel.”
Golden’s recommendation was supported by council.
The paid parking season runs from May to October.
