Calgary seeks public input on residential street parking changes

Street parking in neighbourhoods can be a hotly debated topic and the city wants to hear about it from all Calgarians.

Calgary is undergoing a review of the residential parking permit programin hopes of balancing the changing needs ofcitizens.

Calgarians and businesses have been invited to provide input online beforeJune 26 at engage.calgary.ca/rpp.

There are 80 residential parking permit zones across each quadrant of Calgary.Only people who live in those zones may park on those stretches.

Between the 80 zones, more than 40,000 parking permits are issued each year.

That's exponential growth, the city says, since the parking permit program began in 1974.

Anyone interested even if you don't live in such a zone is invited toattend one of twoopen houses. There's one Tuesday from 5:30-8 p.m. at Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association, 1320 5th Ave. N.W., and another on Saturday at Cardel Rec South, 333 Shawville Blvd. S.E., from 9 a.m. to Noon.

City administrators will attendto explain how street space is shared and how the permit program is financed.

The options for offering input come asa result of feedback gathered earlier this year from 900 participants, who sharedtheir thoughts on the current program.