Surrey approves free 2-hour parking at hospital, city hall
Surrey city council has voted unanimously to approve free two-hour parking at city hall and in the area surrounding Surrey Memorial Hospital.
The decision came in a city council meeting on Monday evening.
A city staff report estimated that scrapping paid parking will result in lost revenues of about $850,000 per year.
"I firmly believed that people visiting their loved ones at Surrey Memorial Hospital should not pay for parking, nor should our citizens have to pay to park their vehicles when conducting business at their 'house,' which is city hall," said Mayor Doug McCallum in a release.
"This was a promise that my team and I campaigned on and we have taken immediate action to deliver on it."
According to the report, the city operates 927 parking spaces at its city hall parkade, which serves the municipal office, the library, a hotel and a university, as well as other businesses in the area.
Around Surrey Memorial Hospital, the city operates 103 on-street pay parking spaces. Fraser Health and private companies operate another 2,041 spots on city-owned land. The report says the city aims to target those next.
