Yoga studio owner worries St. John's parking ban will slow business

A late-night parking ban in downtown St. John's is still garnering criticism, one week into a planned 60 day pilot program.

Moksha Yoga studio co-owner Jill Holden says the ban, which prohibits drivers from parking on downtown streets like Duckworth and Water Street from 3:30 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. each morning, will be detrimental to her business.

Classes at Moksha start each day at 6:30 a.m., and Holden worries that practising students will stay home if they can't be sure there will be a safe place to park without risking a tow truck.

"This is an early start to our day. It's quite dark in the winter, and it's often very slippery," she said.

Holden told CBC Radio One'sOn the Goit's hard enough making ends meet as a local business downtownwithout having to worry about potentially losing clients to thisnew policy.

Council stresses need to wait and see

Coun. Debbie Hanlon said she hearsHolden's concerns but the city has to go forward with the program as they "need at least 60 days to do a proper pilot project."

She's urging patience as the city undergoes this trial period.

"I know it's frustrating but you've got to have a little bit of patience and faith in your council and city staff," said Hanlon.

"We are working to make it better. That's all we're trying to do here."

Shestressed that there are a number of parking spots available within a five-minute walk of theMokshaStudio that don't fall under the ban.

But Holden said she's not convinced.

She said she's concerned about the safety of staff and yoga students who come in early in the morning and have to walk long distances to the studio in the dark.

As of yet, nobody attending Moksha's6:30 a.m. class has cancelled, but she worries what will happen to her business if they do as the ban continues.

Still getting the message out

Hanlonsaid the ban "hasn't been too bad," with a total of seven vehicles towed up to Friday morning.

"We've been doing a lot of work to get the message out, but there's still some people not getting it."

The councillor said when plow operators were downtown clearing snow early Wednesday morning, having the parking spaces empty made their work much easier.

The St. John's overnight parking ban will continue until early April.