If you walked down Laurier Ave. East Saturday, you may have noticed an unusual number of "for sale" signs in the windows of businesses and residences. Not all those people are closing up shop or moving, but Laurier Ave. merchants say it’s very possible their stunt will become reality if the Plateau-Mont Royal borough doesn’t ease new parking rules in the area.
Last month, the borough made 30 per cent of the parking in this village residential parking, and many say the result has been that people are having trouble finding parking.
“Many people are cancelling and showing up very late,” said esthetician Julie Crousset.
One mother says it's causing problems at a neighbourhood daycare – parents get tickets when dropping off their kids.
To protest the borough’s decision, businesses have put up the for sale signs in their windows.
Residents are doing it too, to support the businesses that help make their neighborhood special, they say.
The borough says the area has one of the lowest commercial vacancy rates in the city, thanks to improvements it has made to the area.
But the neighborhood is also partly residential, and the borough needed to make sure those people could park their cars.
While some are in favour of the increased parking spots, others, like the business owners, want the city to rethink their strategy.
“We've gone to several meetings with the mayor and we sort of receive a deaf ear or not a meaningful response to our complaints,” said shoemaker David Rogers.
City hall now tells CTV they're open to fine tuning the parking in the neighbourhood.
