Calgary council to consider reversal of parking permit changes

Following a flood of concerns and a petition against it, the majority of Calgary councillors have signed on to a motion to temporarily reverse a decision to introduce residential parking fees later this summer.

In 2022, council approved a change to the city's Residential Parking Permit (RPP) program set to come into effect on Aug. 1. The change calls for residents of a "ground-oriented dwelling" to pay for on-street parking permits at a cost of up to $250 yearly for a home with three vehicles.

The new RPP pay structure is set to cost $50 per year for the first vehicle, $75 annually for the second permit and $125 yearly for the third at a single address. Visitors passes for the same household would also cost $75 per year.

An urgent notice of motion, co-sponsored by 10 councillors, calls for administration to remove parking fees for the first vehicle permit and reconsider the entire fee structure during budget deliberations next year.

The intention is to bring forward the motion at the June 20 council meeting due to the "concerns I've heard from resident to pay for parking in front of their own homes," said Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot.

Councillors Terry Wong, Sonya Sharp, Jennifer Wyness, Dan McLean, Peter Demong, Sean Chu, Richard Pootmans, Raj Dhaliwal and Evan Spencer have all co-signed the motion alongside Chabot.

"Permit holders have provided substantial feedback to indicate the implementation of the approved fee schedule is burdensome given the amount and time frame" reads part of the motion.

Calgarians have called the changes to the parking program and its costs "obscene" and "harsh" and an online petition has garnered more than 14,000 signatures against the updated fees.

In addition to the "ground-oriented" parking permit fees, the city introduced changes for small and large multi-residential permits, though the new notice of motion does not appear to provide relief to the latter two groups.

"This (notice of motion) says if you live in an apartment, you will now be paying for street parking when no one else is," Ward 8 Coun. Courtney Walcott wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning.

According to the updated fee structure, the city's "select permit" is for those living in small multi-residential buildings and larger ones built before 1945, and it will come with a cost of $75 per year for a permit.

There's also a "market permit" for those living in large multi-residential buildings built after 1945, who will pay $150 per month if it's city centre, $100 per month if it's inner city or $75 per month if it's suburbs.

A low-income permit priced at $6.25 per month is available for the latter tier.

The motion will be subject to debate and could come with amendments to include more permit categories, Chabot said.

"My intent was primarily low-density residential," he said on writing the new motion.

The city says the cost of operating its residential parking permit program is about $1.5 million annually and the fee changes that were approved were intended to offset the cost.