Pending council approval, parking meter and leased parking stall rates in downtown Cranbrook will be updated, effective May 1, 2026, as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to modernize downtown parking and support long-term infrastructure improvements.

On Monday night (Nov. 3), council gave three readings to proposed changes to the Streets, Traffic and Parking Bylaw, which looks to increase parking meter and leased parking stall rates based on recommendations from the Downtown Parking Plan and Strategy completed earlier this year.

The proposed bylaw will come back to council for discussion and possible adoption at a later date.

The updated rates are part of the short-term recommendations from the city’s Downtown Parking Plan, which aims to:

• Keep Cranbrook’s parking rates competitive, well below the national average of $2.00 per hour.
• Increase funding for the Downtown Parking Reserve Fund, which supports upgrades like paving, lighting, landscaping, signage, and other downtown revitalization initiatives.
• Reduce reliance on general tax dollars by ensuring parking operations are more self-sustaining.
• Encourage alternative transportation, helping reduce traffic congestion and emissions.

While we plan to modernize downtown parking with future upgrades like digital mobile payments, these fee changes will still benefit the community now and in the years ahead, since monthly leases and coin meters will likely remain in some areas for the foreseeable future.

Because each parking meter must be manually updated, this process will take some time to complete.

The proposed May 1, 2026 start date ensures the work can be done during favourable weather conditions and allows time to update all of the leased parking stall agreements.

During the transition, there may be a short period where some meters show old rates while others display new ones.

e-KNOW file photo

City of Cranbrook

Article Share