Council approves plan to charge for more park-and-ride spots

Leaving your car at a city park and ride is about to get more expensive after council approved a new policy to charge for up to75 per cent of parking spots.

Most park and rides will only convert 50 per cent of paid stalls, except at Century Park, where demand is highest.

Coun. Michael Walters voted against the move, because he's worried the developer that owns the park and ride atCenturyParkwill have another incentive not to build on the land.

"I'm not interested in having any profit from parking go to that developer," Walters said.

• Five ways the city plans to fix parking problem at Century Park

The developer, Procura, gets a cut of profits from paid park-and-ride stalls on its land, though the city won't release the exact amount because it's subject to a private lease.

Procura has promised a major development on that site for more than a decade, but so far hasn't followed through.

Coun. Andrew Knack and Coun. Bryan Anderson also opposed the plan.

Mayor Don Iveson, who supported increasing the number of paid stalls, said he doesn't think paymentsto Procura willbe large enough to persuade the company not to develop.

Council also voted to raise the rates for monthly parking passes from $40 to $50.

Iveson said the decision is about managing the supply of parking at LRT stations.

"If you give away something that is very valuable to people for free, you're always going to have way more demand for it than you have supply," Iveson said.

The changes will take effect Sept.1.