Downtown Regina business says parking fee hike latest thing to weather

It’s one more thing for Kelly Cairns to deal with.

The co-owner of The Cure Kitchen + Bar on 11th Avenue says higher hourly parking charges won’t help attract customers lured to suburban businesses by convenience.

“I think it’s difficult for restaurants because we’re competing against restaurants that have free parking,” Cairns said.

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“So there’s a lot of restaurants in town that have large parking lots, so right out front (of) the door. So it’s hard, it’s already hard to compete.

“We rely a lot on walking traffic, to be honest.”

As of Wednesday, April 1, the hourly on-street parking fee rises from $2 to $2.50 in addition to the 25 cent surcharge collected by the PayByPhone app. However, council did approve a parking fare decrease to help spread the parking around.

Paid on-street parking east of Broad Street and south of Victoria Avenue drops to $1.50 plus the 25-cent surcharge.

A parking meter has a sign advertising the new paybyphone method.

Parking meters have officially been decommissioned which means people must either use the PayByPhone app or website, or use paper vouchers that can be purchased at City Hall. (Geoff Smith/980 CJME)

Cairns says the removal of meters is itself a sore spot.

“I think a lot of people are not happy with it, just because it’s kind of convenient as well,” she said.

“Just having to have a smartphone or program things into a smartphone. There’s a certain demographic that doesn’t want to have to deal with that, right?”

The city is making available a pre-paid voucher option.

This rate increase comes just as the final year of construction for the 11th Avenue Revitalization Project is about to get underway. The City of Regina confirms work will begin April 6, though more details are expected later in the week.

In past years, the construction work has brought complaints about vehicle and pedestrian access. Cairns says one thing that’s improved is the communication.

“They’ve been very responsive, and they’ve held a couple meeting opportunities for us to go and ask questions and discuss. So they’ve been very good that way. I hope it continues that way,” she said.

Cairns hopes completion of the project leads to more people living in the area, which would really help revitalize the street. She cites the proposed Namerind development just across the alley from the restaurant at 11th and Lorne, as well as Albert and Saskatchewan Drive, where buildings adjacent to the Empire Hotel have been demolished.

But in the meantime, she has a plan to weather the final year of construction:

“We’ve just been saving money from our winter sales to get through the summer.”

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