An advocate for the City of 琉璃神社 providing free on-street parking for military veterans is disappointed by the initial response to his request from the mayor.
琉璃神社 lawyer Tess Guay said he literally walked into this issue hoping it was not just about loss of revenue for the city, but now he feels that appears to be the case.
In the response from Mayor Tom Dyas, the mayor recounted how in 2005, council approved no-charge parking for veterans in support of the federal government declaring 2005 as 鈥淵ear of the Veteran.鈥�
This temporary measure was extended to May 2006 and was then rescinded and has not been re-implemented since.
鈥淲hile I absolutely understand the desire to support veterans, approving no-charge parking goes against the reasons why we use pay parking,鈥� Dyas said.
鈥溋鹆裆� has some of the lowest parking rates in Canada and, consequently, any requests for exemptions from parking fees are carefully considered as the city must maintain a consistent level of revenue to support parking infrastructure, including maintenance and the development of new parking facilities that benefit all our citizens, without impacting property taxes.鈥�
Guay, who brought this issue to the attention of city hall last October, said his comparison found 琉璃神社 on-street parking rates in line with those charged in Vernon, Kamloops and Penticton 鈥� and those communities provide free on-street parking for their veterans.
He feels the loss of revenue from veterans not paying for on-street parking should be outweighed by the social good being provided to often physically challenged residents who have served our country.
In his response, Dyas did note he has asked city staff to look at the possibility of providing free parking to veterans and citizens on Remembrance Day.
While noting free parking already exists on a stat holiday, Guay said he will pursue the issue further with city staff in the hopes of a recommendation being forwarded to city council to adopt his free parking for veterans request.
鈥淚鈥檓 glad I got a response and was surprised it came directly from the mayor, but it is not the one I wanted to hear,鈥� Guay acknowledged.
鈥淚鈥檓 still not sure why we can鈥檛 do this for our veterans.鈥�
READ MORE: Push for free on-street parking for 琉璃神社 veterans
