In spite of peanut gallery resistance, Outremont parking changes pass

Testy Outremont residents shouted, chanted andthrew symbolic peanutsat the borough's mayor Thursday afternoon, but in the end Outremontcouncil moved to pass new parking regulations, as planned.

The new rules replace the borough's remaining free parking spaces with a permitsystem for residents and local workersand limit free parking for non-residents to two hours.

Thursday'smeeting was suspended at one point in order to calmunruly residents, whochanted "Non!" in unison when the vote was called.

"You've described the citizens as a 'peanut gallery,'" one resident shouted from the gallery, walking to the front row of seats. "This refers tothe people in the room who are poor and seated in the front row, and when they're not satisfied with the show, they throw peanuts."

With that, he lobbed three peanuts at borough MayorPhilipe Tomlinson.

After taking his seat, the man noted,"They're good. They're unsalted."

$400K a year

The borough hopes to raise nearly $400,000 annually through the parking change. Tomlinson has said the money collected from the permits will go toward green initiatives, such as improving infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclistsand caring for the borough's trees.

Thepermit sticker will costresidents $140 per year. Amonthly permitfor non-residents who work in the area will cost$100 and a daily permitwill cost$10.

Acap of two free hours will be put in placefor non-permit holders.

Until now, parking has beenfree on about 60per cent of the borough's streets. The rest is metered parking on streets such as Bernard Avenue.