Downtown Summerside store owner wants more parking
A business owner says parking needs to be easier for her customers in downtown Summerside.
Lynn Nicholson, owner of Crocketts Quality Jewellery, has proposed a plan to City Hall for more parking space.
Nicholson said many of her customers are confused about where to find parking and she wants to make it easier.
"There's two buildings that are behind us for sale, and adjacent to that is a parking lot and I've proposed to council that they consider purchasing these, and tearing them down and adding to the parking already there," she told CBC News. "A lot of people were not aware that we had space here, behind the old Regent building."
"I think it might be about 20 spaces, but I'm not a real engineer, and I'm sure a real engineer could fit in a few more spots," she added.
The last few months have been challenging for business owners and customers in downtown Summerside.
Work on the $2 million "Big Dig" in downtown Summerside was completed in December, where work on some the city's water and sewer pipes shut down much of Water Street for more than four months.
All of the shops on Water Street stayed open for business, even while the street was closed.
Both buildings are up for sale and both buildings are vacant.
Nicholson estimates they could be purchased, demolished, and a paved parking lot put in their place for just under $500,000.
But Mayor Basil Stewart said he's not sure it's worth the expense to create just 20 more spots.
Downtown already has more than 2,000.
"To buy buildings and building and tear them down, depending on the number of spaces you'll get, I know council is thinking about it. It will be a number of months yet before a final decision is made," he told CBC News.
The mayor said long-term, the City may need to building a parking garage.
For now, they'll improve signage and access routes to existing downtown lots.
The City will do a parking vacany survey this summer, to find out just how many backstreet parking spots are really getting used.