The passion and sheer volume of the response to efforts to see the recent move to implement pay parking at the Telus Whistler Conference Centre parkade reversed have surprised even that effort’s organizers, and it now appears to have at least some traction at Whistler municipal hall.

Councillor Grant Lamont on Tuesday (June 30) said he agrees that local lawmakers’ decision in April — as part of budget deliberations — was hasty and lacked the level of public engagement that Whistlerites have come to expect. He said he plans to raise a notice of motion at next Tuesday’s (July 7) council meeting to go back to the old, three-hours-free system in the underground lot at least until after a full analysis of the options and public discussion can take place.

The motion would come back before lawmakers at their next meeting on July 21.

Lamont admitted that he voted in favour of the measure when it came forward in April, but added that it was presented mostly as a way to generate revenue to offset the projected property tax increase.

“I saw that there was a need to find some revenue sources here, and I voted for it, but now I’m willing to… say let’s revisit it,” Lamont said.

“It wasn’t done as well as it could have been, not up to the Whistler standard. It was brought forward as kind of an omnibus bill, and as a councillor, I don’t think we really got a chance to debate it. I’d like to see bylaw come to us with a full presentation.”

The organizers of the online, anti-pay-parking campaign that has generated literally thousands of responses welcomed Lamont’s move.

“I think that makes a lot of sense,” said Lauren Sampson, who initiated the Petition for Free Whistler Parking group on Facebook that had generated 2,135 responses as of Tuesday at 4 p.m. “I think there’s strong evidence that the public is not on board with the decision and that council’s decision hasn’t been justified. I think it’s a good idea to definitely go back to the old way of doing things.”

Tim Allix, who posted the website www.freewhistlerparking.com on behalf of local businessman Nathan McLeod, said he thinks the status quo is not acceptable. He said he was “shocked” recently when he went into the parkade on the weekend and found it virtually empty. The free, day skier lots, by contrast, were almost full.

“If this continues I believe the surrounding businesses around the Telus Conference Centre are really going to be hurt,” Allix said.

The website, incidentally, has generated 708 responses to an online petition, with around 90 per cent of the responses to date supporting free parking.

Some of the comments generated by the two online sites have included calls for acts of civil disobedience — such as a sit-in at Whistler Municipal Hall to demand that if pay parking remains at the Conference Centre lot, municipal officials should have to pay to park in the lot adjacent to the hall.

Some of the comments have been directed at statements being made by Mayor Ken Melamed, who has repeatedly argued that putting a price on parking is a way to get more people out of their cars and onto public transit and other modes of transportation. The mayor has acknowledged the public outcry but also urged people to get used to it.

McLeod, who strongly opposes pay parking in the Conference Centre underground, said he thinks it’s important to keep the discussion civil.

“I agree with some of those (web postings), and some I’ll scratch my head and think, ‘Good idea, not a good idea,’ but we’re fortunate to be able to able to express our opinion and hopefully be able to do that in a respectful manner. That being said, I think common sense is what’s missing in all of this.”

Lamont, who was recently named chair of the municipality’s Transportation Advisory Group, said he agrees that business in Whistler Village is poor at the moment, but said it has little do with pay parking and everything to do with the struggling economy.

However, in general, Lamont said he feels parking in Whistler is “poorly managed… a resource that we need to get a handle on.”

For example, “If we’re going to get into pay parking in (day skier) lots 1 to 3, I’d like to see parking metres installed in the municipal staff lot, too,” he said. “It’s all about symbolism in times like this, and if we don’t have leaders who are willing to lead by example, what are we in office for?”

As for the issue surrounding the Conference Centre lot, Lamont said, “For me, I’d like to defer the pay parking there for maybe six months until we can have that discussion.”

Allix said that in addition to the online petition, which can be loaded onto a spreadsheet and printed out, several paper petitions are currently circulating around the community.

McLeod said that of the 700-plus votes registered on the Free Whistler Parking site so far, approximately 500 included people’s names and addresses. He said the plan is to compile both online and paper petitions and present them to lawmakers in time for their July 21 meeting.