Parking woes plague this community in Mississauga

Trying to find a parking spot in one Mississauga neighbourhood has become more difficult in recently, particularly after spaces were removed from one public lot.

A popular place to shop, grab a coffee or a bite to eat, Port Credit can get pretty busy, and people are finding it more and more difficult to park.

And this summer the city removed six parking spaces in a municipal lot.

“Port Credit and Lakeview parking is already a headache for business owners when the City assaults public citizens with $100 fines on south Lakeshore NOW purposely removing P Parking…,” one person wrote recently on the Port Credit Life Facebook group.

The six spots were in Municipal Parking Lot 7 at Cayuga Avenue and Lakeshore Road East. But during a parking lot reconstruction this summer, spots were not repainted, a City of Mississauga spokesperson told insauga.com.

The spots did not meet the minimum parking stall size requirements as outlined in the Zoning By-law.

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But a minor variance application was filed with the Committee of Adjustment, with a request to reinstate the parking lot to its original design, which would include those six spots, the city spokesperson said.

The city is aiming for this work to be approved and completed by the end of the year, at which time the six spaces will again be available in Municipal Parking Lot 7.

And in the meantime, the city created three temporary spaces that run parallel to Cayuga Avenue.

The design meets zoning by-law requirements and will remain in place until the Committee of Adjustment approves the previous design with the six additional spaces, the spokesperson said..

It can also be difficult for people who work in the area, one person told insauga.com. 

Some parking lots only allow a driver to pay for three hours at a time. So if you are working an eight hour day, you must go back to the lot to pay again. An app, such as those offered through Green P in Toronto, would be helpful in this situation.

There are parking lots that offer 15-hour, free parking in Port Credit including 3 Elmwood Ave., Lot 4, 5 Cayuga Ave., Lot 7, 8 Stavebank Rd., Lot 3, 5 Hiawatha Pwy., Lot 12, 794 Lakeshore Rd. E., Lot 16, and 20 Lakeshore Rd. E., Lot 15.

However, if those lots are full, parking for several hours can be a hassle.

“The City is considering a number of options to help enhance parking across the city,” the city spokesperson said.

The city is looking at Pay-by-License Plate and Pay-by-Phone app, to help make it easier to pay for parking.

And the city is currently implementing the Parking Matters 2.0, a project to refine and improve the delivery of parking in the city.

The primary goal of the project is to implement the recommendations set out in the Parking Master Plan and Implementation Strategy completed in 2019.

There are five key components:

• Parking Permits and Considerations – streamline parking regulations, considerations and permits.
• Lower Driveway Boulevard Parking – the city is studying permitting lower driveway boulevard parking to provide additional parking options.
• Pay-by-License Plate and Pay-by-Phone – additional tools to help make it easier to pay for parking, including pay-by-license plate and pay-by-phone.
• Parking Fees and Dynamic Pricing – reviewing its parking fees and exploring the implementation of dynamic pricing, creating a model where parking fees are higher or lower depending on demand and time of day.
• Digital Parking Solution — exploring access and acquire parking permits online for different locations and uses in a one-stop destination to improve user experience.

A full list of municipal parking lots in Mississauga is here. Also, learn more about the Parking Matters 2.0 project here and the Parking Master Plan and Implementation Strategy here.