An advocate for the City of Kelowna providing free on-street parking for military veterans is disappointed by the initial response to his request from the mayor.

Kelowna lawyer Tess Guay said he literally walked into this issue hoping it was not just about loss of revenue for the city, but now he feels that appears to be the case.

In the response from Mayor Tom Dyas, the mayor recounted how in 2005, council approved no-charge parking for veterans in support of the federal government declaring 2005 as 含羞草研究社淵ear of the Veteran.含羞草研究社�

This temporary measure was extended to May 2006 and was then rescinded and has not been re-implemented since.

含羞草研究社淲hile I absolutely understand the desire to support veterans, approving no-charge parking goes against the reasons why we use pay parking,含羞草研究社� Dyas said.

含羞草研究社淜elowna has some of the lowest parking rates in Canada and, consequently, any requests for exemptions from parking fees are carefully considered as the city must maintain a consistent level of revenue to support parking infrastructure, including maintenance and the development of new parking facilities that benefit all our citizens, without impacting property taxes.含羞草研究社�

Guay, who brought this issue to the attention of city hall last October, said his comparison found Kelowna on-street parking rates in line with those charged in Vernon, Kamloops and Penticton 含羞草研究社� and those communities provide free on-street parking for their veterans.

He feels the loss of revenue from veterans not paying for on-street parking should be outweighed by the social good being provided to often physically challenged residents who have served our country.

In his response, Dyas did note he has asked city staff to look at the possibility of providing free parking to veterans and citizens on Remembrance Day.

While noting free parking already exists on a stat holiday, Guay said he will pursue the issue further with city staff in the hopes of a recommendation being forwarded to city council to adopt his free parking for veterans request.

含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 glad I got a response and was surprised it came directly from the mayor, but it is not the one I wanted to hear,含羞草研究社� Guay acknowledged.

含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 still not sure why we can含羞草研究社檛 do this for our veterans.含羞草研究社�

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