HALIFAX -- Parking is often at a premium in downtown Halifax and soon it will come with a premium price.
City Hall is changing both the way people pay to park -- and the cost.
Parking frustrations in downtown Halifax are nothing new and business owner Clifford MacKay has seen plenty of drivers get creative as a result.
"This guy parks where there's no meter, and they just walk by him, I call that free parking, that car's been there since seven o'clock this morning," MacKay said.
But now, the city has a plan that was approved by council Tuesday night -- one that staff hopes will alleviate the city's on-street parking woes.
Part of that plan includes paying more for on-street parking.
It will bump hourly rates up by 50 cents an hour -- making it $2 an hour in Halifax and $1.50 in Dartmouth. After two hours - the cost jumps to $6 an hour. You can park for up to four hours if you can find a space.
"Generally, the complaints that we hear is they don't have enough time when they're at the meter, if they can find a meter, so we're hoping that the addition of four hours will give them the options and the choice," said Victoria Horne, HRM's manager of parking services.
Before it will increase the fees, the city first plans to replace parking meters with parking stations.
"So we're moving away from individual meters and individual spaces to a pay-by-zone, pay-by-plate, system," Horne said.
That means replacing the city's 1,600 parking meters with 240 pay stations -- roughly one on every block on both sides of the street.
And the city will be divided into eight parking zones. Those zones will still have free parking on evenings and weekends.
Payment at the stations can be made using cash, credit card, debit, or digital tap and pay and there will be a new parking app -- that means, no more HotSpot.
"I'm not sure how that's going to work with the Spring Garden re-phasing in 2021," said Sue Uteck of the Spring Garden Area Business Association.
It means a lot more change is coming to an area that is already experiencing a lot of construction and due to undergo a major overhaul the year after the new parking system is supposed to come into effect.
"We're going to have to work closely with the city and with each other as business associations to make sure that this is a smooth transition," said Uteck.
The city says that transition will begin next spring at the earliest.
The changes to parking rates also include raising residential permit rates from $30 to $40.
The increased parking prices will mean more money for the city -- adding more than $1 million in extra revenue.