Written By Jan Sims
ARVA - Pay parking has arrived at Weldon Park in Arva. Effective May 21st, Middlesex Centre is charging people from outside the municipality to park their vehicles at the park.
“I’ve received a few complaints, which is totally expected,” says Community Services Director Scott Mairs as word of the charges spread throughout the greater London area.
Property owners in Middlesex Centre can apply for parking passes, which exempt them from the charges. Mairs says the response from community members has been “supportive” for the idea of pay parking at the park.
The new parking regulations are explained on the Middlesex Centre website, but the municipality has been fielding questions including those from groups that use the park such as registered sports teams or people who have rented Weldon Park facilities. For these groups, parking codes will
be assigned so that relevant vehicles won’t be charged for parking.
People required to pay for parking can use the Honk app. The parking fees are $3 per hour or $20 per day during the week, and $5 per hour or $30 per day on the weekends, plus service fees.
Revenue generated from the parking fees will be used to offset the cost of operating the park. However, Mairs says it’s difficult to estimate at this time how much money will be generated. “Until we get that first year under our belts it’s going to be hard for us to estimate,” says Mairs.
Motorists who want to avoid the charges by parking on nearby streets might want to think again because of regulations that have been in place for a while, given the area’s proximity to Medway
High Schoo. “The area aroundWeldon Park is already signed quite heavily with no parking, because of the school parking we’ve had issues with,” says Mairs.
As for enforcement, that will be carried out by bylaw enforcement officers doing random checks. However, there will be a certain grace period for people to adjust to the new charges. “We’re probably looking at a week or two of a grace period until we really get into the enforcement side,” says Mairs.
There are no other plans to add paid parking to other parks in Middlesex Centre. As to why it was confined to Weldon Park, that was decided based on the heavy usage of the park which includes a lot of green space as well as tennis and pickleball courts, disc golf, sports fields and more. “Knowing the costs associated with operating that park, we felt this is a responsible way for us to help manage those costs for the people of Middlesex Centre,” says Mairs.
