The borough of Outremont wants to wipe out free street parking in the next few months.
Borough Mayor Philipe Tomlinson proposed Thursday that every resident of the borough should need to purchase a permit, aka a vignette, in order to park a vehicle on the street.
The first permit would cost residents $120 per year. A permit for a second vehicle would cost $275 annually.
Tomlinson said the borough had seen an increase in the number of cars owned by residents, going from about 8,500 in 2008 to 9,500 in 2013.
The number of households without a car dropped, going from 34 percent in 2008 to 26 percent in 2013.
The borough mayor also said that more than half of all trips to Outremont from someone who lives outside the borough are made by car.
"Residents will be able to buy a vignette in order to assure themselves that they get that parking on their street because right now that's not the case. If you were to go out and look at all the cars that are there, on Davaar Ave. for example, we'd see that mainly they're not residents," said Tomlinson.
Davaar Ave. is a one-way, one-lane, one-kilometre-long residential street with parking on both sides, that runs to Borough Hall at the intersection of Cote Sainte Catherine. Very few homes on the street have driveways.
"There are people who are using the parking because it's free. They're getting on a Bixi at the corner, they're going downtown, they're jumping on the metro, or taking the bus. So we want to put our residents first."
He said that selling vignettes would generate about $400,000 in revenue for the borough.
Vote to happen July 2
A system will have to be set up to allow visitors to park for two hours without paying in areas that require permits, and if they stay longer they would have to pay.
Visitors would be able to buy monthly or daily street parking passes which would cost $10 per day or $100 per month.
The borough is still working out how people will be able to buy temporary permits, but it may involve going to the borough office or picking them up at depanneurs.
Currently about 60 percent of all street parking in the borough is available without payments, with the remainder being in areas that require permits, or in commercial sections with parking meters.
The proposal will be discussed at the borough council meeting on Monday June 3, and Tomlinson would like to see it approved on Tuesday July 2, with permits going on sale the next day.
The plan is to have full implementation of the permit system by October.
