BIA proposes changes to downtown Shelburne parking

Written By Brian Lockhart

The Shelburne BIA is hoping to modify the way people park in its downtown core.

With limited parking available in the downtown business area in Shelburne, the local BIA is hoping to modify the existing situation to allow business customers to have easier access to storefronts and other businesses on the main street.

The BIA executive had a zoom meeting with the Town of Shelburne to discuss parking issues on Main Street and other side streets in the area.

Downtown businesses would like to keep parking spaces in front of their stores available for customers who shop there and most likely will be parked for a short period of time as they enter nearby stores.

A major concern comes from the fact that employees of local businesses park their cars on Main Street and Owen Sound Street, taking up spaces intended for customers.

“With so many businesses customers complaining about the lack of parking spaces we are trying our best to help make our downtown more accessible,” BIA executive said in a statement. “That being said we cannot stress enough that employees of the businesses downtown should not be parking along the streets along Main St or Owen Sound St, even if you are moving your vehicle every three hours.”

The statement noted that Shelburne By-Law officers will be keeping an eye on vehicles parked in those areas and will be issuing tickets to vehicles that are parked longer than the allowed three hours.

Currently, street parking is restricted to three-hour slots on any given day.

The proposal includes eliminating parking passes at the William St. parking lot, just north of Main St., and allowing four-hour free parking for the public accessing local businesses with no overnight parking allowed.

This includes a plan to add two additional accessible parking spaces at that lot.

The parking lot on Wellington Street will remain as free all-day parking with overnight permits available for purchase for residential tenants in the area.

The parking lot on Victoria Street, at Town Hall, will remain open for free all-day parking with no overnight parking allowed.

With local businesses already under the current restrictions, the BIA wants to encourage residents to shop local.

Providing easy access to Main Street stores and business will encourage more people to make the effort to visit and shop in the downtown core.

The BIA plans to follow up with a presentation to Shelburne Council at their meeting on January 25.