When the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the city in March, parking enforcement in downtown Lethbridge was limited to focus on accessibility and safety. Now, parking enforcement is set to return to normal, meaning fees will need to be paid.
Kiosks were still operational throughout this time, but the city says there were no repercussions for not paying the parking fees.
“Parking fees were never stopped,” said City of Lethbridge parking co-ordinator Phillip Berg. “Our enforcement officers were redeployed to other services, so it was still expected that parking was to be paid for in the downtown.”
According to Dave Henley, a bylaw enforcement officer with the City of Lethbridge, downtown parking numbers are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, so it’s the right time to bring back enforcement.
“The decision to do that was based on information that was collected over the last few months on a number of vehicles that are parking in the downtown,” said Henley.
Starting Sept. 1, anyone parking in one of the city’s 1,900 parking spaces must register their licence plates at a kiosk and pay the appropriate fee for the amount of time they wish to park.
Anyone who fails to do so between Sept. 1 and Sept. 13 will receive a reminder slip.
“As of the fourteenth of September, violation tickets will be issued,” Henley explained. “So there’s still a little bit of a grace period that’s going to be allowed for people that are parking downtown.”
As well, the city is providing some parking incentives available until Dec. 31, including:
- A 50 per cent reduction on the monthly Zone 10 price from $72 to $36.
- A 50 per cent reduction on the monthly parking permit at the Lethbridge Park ‘n’ Ride Transit Terminal from $105 to $52.50.
- Reduced minimum purchase amount on the Way to Park app from $1.80 to $1.00 (one hour).
Residents are encouraged to download the aforementioned app as a method of payment, to reduce contact with high-touch surfaces. However, kiosk payments can be made with coin, credit card, or a pre-paid parking card.
Paid parking hours are between 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.