New park rental fees approved for City of Charlottetown

For-profit groups hosting money-making events now have to pay

Image | Victoria Park

Caption: Fees will not apply to not-for-profit events. (Brian Higgins/CBC)

Businesses hoping to host a for-profit event in a Charlottetown city park will now have to pay more for the privilege.
City council passed a new rental fee structure Monday for events held in city parks.
Manager of parks and recreation Frank Quinn said the new fee will only apply to for-profit groups who will make money off the event. Any other events, such as weddings, will continue to pay the normal $25 permit fee.
"I guess we felt that for for-profit groups using public space, it sort of made sense that they should pay some type of a fee," he said.
"They do get the use of the park, a portion of the park, and then also they would have access to different amenities as well...and then there might be some cleanup costs associated with it. So it's just a way for the city to recoup a small amount of the cost."
The fees range from $100 to $500 depending on how many guests are attending.
New park rental fees
Number of Participants Rental Fee (per day/per event)
Under 250 $100
251-500 $150
501-1000 $250
1001 and over $500
Quinn said the department tried to make the fees as reasonable as possible.
"I know there are other places that might charge more or whatever but we just sort of looked at what looked reasonable and this seemed like a reasonable fee."
The rental fee structure takes effect immediately. Quinn said although the city doesn't get that many requests from for-profit groups — only one or two a year — it's expected that may go up someday and city managers wanted to be prepared.