(Tuesday, March 20,2001)- The Public is invited to attend a meeting at St. Patrick's High School on Wednesday, March 21^st at 7 p.m., where a new Draft Policy on HRM Residential Parking will be presented for discussion.

The Draft Policy has been developed by HRM staff in response to an issue which a number of residential neighbourhoods in peninsular Halifax are faced with, when located in close proximity to large public service-related buildings such as hospitals or universities, which create a high demand for all day parking on neighbouring streets.

In the past, residents of neighbourhoods with heavy parking demand have been able to petition the Municipality for parking controls to limit all-day parking.As these requests have become more frequent and the controls more restrictive, the supply of on-street parking in high demand areas has dwindled.

The new Draft Policy,which will require final approval by Regional Council, attempts to balance the need of the community to manage excessive demand , while still offering reasonable use of valuable parking space. One of the techniques identified in the draft policy, and the subject of a recent pilot-project, is to charge money to people from outside the area who wish to park on these particular, high-demand, residential streets.

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Contact:
Lori Patterson
Acting Corporate Communications Officer
(902)490-6531
(cell)489-6833