A motion to enforce a slate of parking changes squeaked by town council last week, but that may have been the easy part.

Last Wednesday council voted 4-3 in favour of the changes which include a 25 cents an hour increase in hourly parking rates, the installation of 24 new meters and the creation of several new no-parking areas.

Simultaneously in the downtown core, Steve McLellan, owner of Muskoka Bean, is collecting pages of signatures from business owners and members of the public who are in favour of scrapping the increase and removing the parking meters altogether.

During last Wednesday’s meeting, councillor Patti Thompson said she cannot support the raise in the hourly rate, nor vote in favour of the motion.

Councillor Edith Nichols said, in response to comments from her constituents, she would vote against the motion as well.

The third dissenting vote came from councillor Gerry Tryon, who said he has also been approached by people opposed to the project. He added he would like to see the meters on Manitoba Street eventually removed.

Tryon is the councillor Steve McLellan will take his petition to when he has collected enough signatures.

Speaking Friday, McLellan said he has collected roughly 150 signatures, 20 of which are from business owners, in the week since he created the petition.

“If you go up and down this street you’ll find the vast majority are in favour of removing the meters,” he said. “This is nothing but a money grab. It adversely affects people coming here to shop. If it affects the BIA (Business Improvement Area), then you need to get a vote from them.”

The ideal situation would be to suspend payments at the meters for a three-month trial period, said McLellan, and gauge the effect on traffic and business. McLellan said the amount of revenue generated by the meters is not worth the negative effect on the downtown.

“Keep the two-hour time limit in effect . . . and raise the parking fine. That way the offenders pay. Fine them every day and they’d soon be parking elsewhere,” said McLellan. “Collingwood is trying it (free parking). Why not take a page out of their book. If the town does it and it works, then they get all the glory for doing something positive. The downtown businesses make money, and everybody gets what they want.”

Despite the fact that the motion has already been passed by council, McLellan said he is hopeful his efforts can still make a difference.

“It’s going to be a long haul, but if I can get the petition read into the minutes of a council or committee meeting, then it’s something that’s going to be used as an election issue,” said McLellan, who unsuccessfully ran for council during the last election.

Mayor Don Coates, who went on record with his support for the parking rate increase during the last council meeting, is on vacation until the end of March. However, deputy mayor Steve Clement said parking meters are the jurisdiction of the municipality, not the business community.

“This was a matter brought forward by councillor (Lori-Lynn) Giaschi-Pacini, not as a BIA member, as a councillor. This is a town project,” said Clement. “That extra money goes to the new snow removal project in the downtown area. During December it goes to local charities. We don’t just take the money and pocket it.”

With all the other recently passed changes to the parking system, Clement said the time was right to up the hourly rate.

“It hasn’t been raised in years,” he said. “The further behind we get, the higher we’re going to have to jack it up eventually. Twenty-five cents an hour isn’t that much.”

Clement said traffic meters in general help to keep the flow of traffic moving and circulate customers coming in and out of the shops.

As for the petition, Clement said council will deal with it if and when it appears before them.

“We’ll see if he has strong support, and who that support is from,” he said.