Downtown parking costs to increase soon, extend until 9pm

Kelowna City Council approved a number of recommendations from Parking Services on Monday that will change how on-street parking looks downtown.

Among a number of recommendations aimed at improving parking downtown is the extension of paid parking until 9pm in prime locations.

That includes most of Water Street, most east-west downtown streets on the lake side of Ellis Street and part of Abbott Street near City Park.

Dubbed Zone A, one of three downtown zones identified in a report to council, it will also see an increase in price and the introduction of variable rates.

Currently, there's a fixed rate of $1.25 per hour across downtown Kelowna with paid parking being in place from 9am until 5pm.

Once these changes take effect, peak season (May 15 to Sept. 15) parking between 9am and 6pm will cost $1.75 per hour for the first two hours and $3.50 for the third and final hour.

From 6pm until 9pm, the price will be knocked down to $1.50 per hour with no time limit on how long you can park.

For the rest of the year, parking between 9am and 6pm is $1.50 for the first two hours and $3 for a potential third hour, before being knocked down to $1.25 between 6pm and 9pm.

Those rates are for weekdays and on Saturday, it’ll be a fixed $1.50 per hour rate from 9am until 9pm during peak season and $1.25 per hour from 9am until 9pm the rest of the year.

The biggest changes will be happening to Zone A, but changes to Zone B, which is the southeast portion of downtown, and Zone B, a small area north of Clement Avenue, were also approved.

You won’t need to pay for parking past 6pm in Zone B, but a similar variable rate structure will be introduced that will see the third hour of parking cost twice as much.

In Zone C, the City is introducing paid parking with a 9am to 6pm fixed rate of $1.25 per hour all year long.

These changes, along with a number of other recommendations approved by City Council will take effect “immediately.”

The hope is that these new time limits and prices will make parking downtown more accessible by increasing turn over and freeing up more parking spots in prime locations.

You can view the entire report by clicking this link.