A bid by two Ward 3 councillors to have Saddle Crescent turned into a no-parking zone took a new twist at tonight's meeting of Sault Ste. Marie City Council.
As SooToday reported on Sunday, councillors Matthew Shoemaker and Judy Hupponen were getting complaints that the quiet residential street was turning into a free parking lot for people unwilling or unable to pay the hospital's parking rates.
But Shoemaker and Hupponen withdrew their no-parking resolution tonight after hearing from more people in the neighbourhood.
"I don't know that a blanket ban on parking on Saddle Crescent is necessarily the answer, because we've had residents from Saddle Crescent say: 'That's going to prohibit me from parking on my own street.' Which is true," Shoemaker said.
Instead, City Council approved a new resolution from the two councillors calling on city staff to develop alternative ways of discouraging hospital patrons and staff from parking there.
And the new resolution asks that the parking problem be investigated on "other adjacent or abutting streets."
"I feel for the folks who are using alternative sources of parking to get to the hospital," Shoemaker said. "I understand that it can be financially difficult on folks who who have to attend the hospital."
"The residents of Saddle Crescent and potentially other residents on either Foxborough or Terrance or Killarney have to deal with the hospital's problem."
"There does have to be a solution to the problem," Shoemaker said. "I don't know what the best solution is. But I would ask that staff put their heads together and consult with area residents."
Shoemaker said that he and councillor Hupponen will arrange consultations with both the hospital and neighbourhood residents "to determine how we can fix the broader problem, not just the parking on Saddle Crescent specifically."