Known for his love of cycling and green initiatives, Windsor city Councillor Chris Holt may be a surprising ally in the Downtown Windsor BIA's fight to reinstate one-hour free parking.
Holt doesn't support free parking on principal, calling it ultimately "unsustainable", but he also thinks city council may have put the cart before the horse when it eliminated free parking from this year's budget. So, he's looking forward to a report to council this summer that will outline options.
"I'm hoping that we can take out some numbers and figure out if there's a way we can still provide the benefits to the downtown business owners of having that one-hour free parking, without it costing the city," he says.
The Downtown Windsor BIA says the loss of free parking is a disincentive to come downtown. It says it's already received complaints from its members that the decision is hurting business.
Holt thinks what's needed is a city-wide strategy. By removing free parking across the city, he believes that disincentive will disappear.
As for whether city council acted rashly to remove the line item, Holt says, "we have to work within an overall mandate, and the overall mandate that we had was that 0% tax increase."
The BIA has launched a petition calling on the council to reinstate free parking.
