Antigonish Town Councillors are discussing a parking meter by-law.
The by-law, which would see parking infraction prices increase from $10 to $20, passed a first-reading at last Monday’s regular council meeting.
Raising ticket prices will bring the town in line with other municipalities in the province, Mayor Laurie Boucher says.
She also notes, the price increase will help deter people from parking downtown all day and clogging up spots that people need to patronize local businesses.
“We want to make it so that everybody can come downtown and enjoy and make sure there’s a lot of turnover,” Boucher says.
Council hopes to have the new by-law take effect by September, when St. Francis Xavier University will implement paid parking on campus. Boucher says they expect increased demand for parking downtown after the change at the university.
Parking is a big concern in downtown Antigonish, Boucher says. There are currently three new developments underway, which will increase the demand.
A parking study is set to take place as part of the next steps once traffic returns to pre-pandemic volumes in the downtown core, Boucher says.
Boucher says council is also considering some other changes to parking, such as time limits on free parking spots.
