2023 Paid Parking Project Frequently Asked Questions
Municipal services including parking, roads, painting, repair, signage, lighting, waste collection, washroom facilities, and enforcement all come at a cost to the taxpayer. Norfolk County is no different than any other beachfront community in southern Ontario in that we experience very high numbers of visitors arriving here to experience our beautiful waterfront, especially in the summer months. That extra load can be significant, and virtually all waterfront communities across southern Ontario have now moved to paid parking to assist the municipality in offsetting operating costs.
We understand that paid parking is a change from previous years when all parking in Norfolk was free, however, the current 2-year Paid Parking Pilot Project is intended to bring relevant and accurate data to County Council to assist in determining the pros and cons of a permanent paid parking program, whether it helps to reduce the tax burden, and if it provides better user services and infrastructure.
Please see answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about paid parking in Norfolk County, below.
On this page
- Times and Dates
- Cost
- Payment Options
- Residential Permits
- Paid Parking Areas
- MTO Accessible Parking Permits
- Enforcement
- Customer Support
Times & Dates
When is paid parking in effect in Norfolk County?
- Paid parking will be in effect from Thursday, June 15 through Labour Day September 4, 2023
What hours and days are paid parking in effect?
- Paid parking will be in effect for 8 hours per day, from 10:00 a.m. to 6 p.m., every day of the week.
Cost
What is the hourly cost to park in a paid parking area?- The fee to park in any Norfolk County paid parking area is $4 per hour.
- No, a daily fee option is not available at this time.
- The $4 per hour rate applies to all vehicles parking in a paid parking area.
Payment Options
What options do I have to pay for parking?- Three (3) different payment options are offered for paid parking.
- Each paid parking zone has numerous HotSpot Parking signs nearby, with the applicable parking zone number shown on each. Customers can use their cell phone to access the HotSpot “QR” code (also known as “Tap and Go”) without having to download anything. They can also use the HotSpot Mobile Parking App to pay. The App is available for download on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
- For those who prefer, a limited number of electronic pay terminals are located in each of the three paid parking areas. Pay terminals accept credit cards, Visa Debit and Debit only.
- Sorry no, cash is not accepted at any of the pay terminals.
- If you don’t have cell access and/or a credit/debit card, other nearby areas offer a free parking alternative but may be a bit farther from the beach, or in another beach area. Paid parking is available in prime parking areas located close to the waterfront.
- No, a paid receipt is not required. Paying at a pay terminal will offer you the option of a printed receipt if you’d like one. The receipt is only for your records and does not have to be displayed in or on your vehicle.
- Once you enter your license plate number and length of parking time into the system, either on your cell phone or at a pay terminal, the transaction is recorded electronically in the HotSpot Parking database. A transaction receipt is available for you on your HotSpot App or by email showing proof of payment. A printed receipt is available if using a pay terminal.
- Yes you can. The HotSpot system and pay terminals will both recognize the time of day and you will only have to pay for the time you want between 10 am and 6 pm. So, for example, if you arrive at 8 am and want to park until 2 pm you would only pay for 4 hours (from 10 – 2) and not for the full 6 hours.
- Correct license plate entry is the responsibility of the person paying for parking and not the Municipality. If you enter the wrong license plate information into the HotSpot Parking database it will not be recognized when your actual license plate is later scanned by an enforcement officer. Unfortunately, this will result in a parking ticket.
- Please double-check your entered license plate information before you finish paying and leave your vehicle; no refunds will be issued or parking tickets waived if you fail to enter your correct license plate number. If you find an error was made just after payment and need to correct your license plate information, you can do so through HotSpot Customer Support at 1-855-712-5888 or [email protected].
Residential Permits
Are there special permits available for Norfolk County residents?- Yes, Residential Paid Parking Permits are now available for $20 per vehicle
- for individuals with a verified Norfolk County residential address,
- for those who own property in Norfolk County but live elsewhere (such as cottage owners).
- The permit is good from June 15 to September 3, 2023.
- Those interested in purchasing Residential Paid Parking Permits are encouraged to visit the webpage that provides detail information such as if you qualify and how to acquire a permit.
Paid Parking Areas
What areas of Norfolk County will have paid parking in 2023?- Paid parking will be in place in limited areas of 3 waterfront communities; Port Dover, Turkey Point, and Long Point. All other parking in Norfolk County will continue to be free and have the same signed parking restrictions, if any, in place for those areas year-round.
- Paid parking areas are identified with HotSpot Parking signage placed along the edge of each parking area.
- In Port Dover, all paid parking stalls are also painted with green lines for easier identification.
- In Turkey Point, a green line along Cedar Drive indicates the paid parking area.
- In Long Point, along Erie Boulevard about 160 spaces are marked in green paint along the edge of the road. Green lines are also painted along a short section of Abigail Becker Boulevard next to the paid parking lot.
- Maps of all paid parking areas are available on the norfolkcounty.ca website on the Paid Parking page.
What Waterfront Areas Have Paid Parking in Norfolk
Port Dover
Location information- All of Harbour Street along the river from the lift bridge parking lot to St. George.
- One block only of St. George Street, from Harbour to Walker
- Two blocks of Walker St., from Main St. to the beach
- Clinton St. parking lot (On Clinton St. between Main and St. Andrew)
- Click here to view a copy of the Port Dover map.
- Yes, lots! Only 3 streets in the immediate area of the Port Dover waterfront and beach have paid parking, everywhere else is 2 hours maximum, or 48 hours if no other posted restrictions are in place.
- The Port Dover pier parking area is free but has a 2-hour maximum, as does the entire downtown area north of Walker Street.
- The streets around Powell Park downtown have no parking time limit and are very close to restaurants, stores and the theatre along Main Street.
- The Elmer Lewis Parkette lot downtown, between Main and St George, is also a free option and has about 70 parking spaces.
- No there isn’t. In 2022 a one-hour free option was available to all who registered their license plate for a paid parking session in Port Dover. It was primarily intended to benefit local residents who were stopping in to shop for an hour or less near the waterfront. Some users found the 1-hour free option confusing and as a result, Council decided to offer the Resident Paid Parking Permit option instead, good for up to 4 hours a day at a nominal seasonal fee of just $20 per vehicle.
Turkey Point
Location information- All parking near the Turkey Point main beach is paid parking; whether at the Provincial Park or along the road on Cedar Drive. No free parking is available anywhere near this area.
- Turkey Point will have approximately 106 paid parking spaces on the beach side of Cedar Drive running from the Turkey Point Provincial Park entrance north to Old Hill Road.
- Turkey Point Provincial Park continues to operate its own paid parking lot at the main beach on Cedar Drive. This lot holds 275 vehicles. The regular fee for 2023 is $18, payable at the main gate. Seniors 65+ are $14.50 and those with an MTO-issued Accessible permit are $9. On busy summer days, especially weekends, you can expect delays and a line-up to get into this lot.
- Click here to view a copy of the Turkey Point Map.
- Yes, but they are limited to another beach area to the south along Ordnance Ave. only.
- Please note – if you choose to park along Ordnance Ave. you are not permitted to park any part of your vehicle on the paved shoulder inside the white painted line. This is not a parking lane for any vehicles or trailers, it is a walking and biking path and you will be ticketed if you park there.
- On-street parking in the residential areas of Turkey Point is prohibited and strictly enforced. The fine for parking in a prohibited area is $100.
Long Point
Location information- Long Point has two (2) areas of Norfolk County paid parking.
- The first option is on Abigail Becker Parkway and in the adjacent Abigail Becker parking lot, both located next to the beach and not far from the Long Point Provincial Park entrance.
- Other paid parking options include either a 900-metre length of Erie Boulevard (north side, from Pike Lane to Buck Lane) or a 250-metre length Erie Boulevard (north side from Howey Ave. to Austin Parkway). Several nearby beach Access Points are located near these Erie Boulevard parking areas. All other beachfront property is private and trespassing to the beach through these private properties is prohibited.
- Long Point Provincial Park operates a public parking lot for day-use visitors located inside the Provincial Park entrance at the end of Erie Boulevard. This Long Point Provincial Park day-use parking lot has room for about 650 vehicles and the regular parking fee for 2023 is $18, payable at the main gate. Seniors 65+ are $14.50 while those with an MTO-issued Accessible permit are $9. On busy summer days, especially on weekends, you can expect delays and a line-up to get into the Provincial Park.
- Click here to view a map of the Long Point Location.
- Yes, but it is farther from the main beach area. A 1-kilometer stretch on the north side of Erie Boulevard, from the end of the Causeway east to Pike Lane, offers free parking and is near a few businesses catering to tourists. Watch for the white painted line and do not park on the bike lane/walking path or you will be ticketed.
- On-street parking in the residential areas of Long Point is prohibited and enforced. The fine for parking in a prohibited area is $100.
- Private parking lots aren’t a permitted use of residential properties and there are no other County or provincial parking options available on Long Point.
MTO Accessible Parking Permits
I have an MTO-issued accessible parking permit. Can I park for free with the permit anywhere in a paid parking area?- Those with an MTO-issued Accessible Parking Permit may park in an Accessible parking space in a paid parking zone at no charge. Please remember – always place your MTO permit face-up on your dash or sun visor so that it’s clearly visible to an enforcement officer through your windshield.
Enforcement
What happens if I don’t pay for parking in a paid parking area, or if I park longer than I paid for?- License plates in a paid parking area are scanned by parking enforcement officers on a regular basis from 10 am through 6 pm daily. If you fail to pay or park longer than you paid for (even by a few minutes) you may receive a parking ticket for failing to have a current paid parking session.
- The paid parking fine is $75
- If you pay your parking ticket within 7 days of receiving it, Norfolk County offers a reduced fine of $50
- There are 3 payment options available for all Norfolk County parking tickets. Each option is listed on the back of the pink parking ticket copy.
- You can pay online with a credit card at ca/parkingtickets. You will need to enter the complete parking ticket number, including all characters and numbers with no spaces. This number can be found printed in red at the top right corner of the ticket.
- You can pay by mail with a cheque or money order.
- You can pay in person at the ServiceNorfolk counter located on the ground floor at 185 Robinson Street in Simcoe during business hours, Monday through Friday.
- Important: please allow up to 48 hours for your ticket information to be uploaded into the parking system before attempting to pay. If for some reason you still can’t access the website to pay online after 48 hours has passed, please email [email protected] with the details plus a copy of your ticket and contact information, and the officer will get back to you. Please do not call ServiceNorfolk to resolve a parking ticket payment issue.
- Each parking area has at least one enforcement officer assigned to it, and each officer is equipped with a license plate scanning device. Officers use the device to scan each license plate in a paid parking area on a regular basis while on patrol from 10 am through 6 pm daily. Each scanned plate is reviewed electronically in the HotSpot Parking database and compared to the time of day to see if the plate is currently paid or not. If the parking session for that license plate has been paid for then the officer receives a “Paid” reading on their scanner and moves on. If not paid for then the scanner reading shows “Unpaid” and a $75 ticket for failing to have a current paid parking session is issued and placed on the windshield.
- Correct license plate entry is the responsibility of the person paying for parking, not the Municipality. If you enter the wrong license plate information into the HotSpot Parking system it will not be recognized when your actual license plate number is later scanned by an enforcement officer. The result will be an “Unpaid” response and the officer will then issue a parking ticket. Please check your entered license plate information carefully before you finish paying and leave your vehicle. No refunds will be issued, or tickets waived, for failing to enter the correct license plate number.
Customer Support
Who do I contact if I have an issue with a parking session transaction?- Please contact our paid parking vendor HotSpot Parking for assistance. A HotSpot Customer Service Agent is available toll-free at 1-855-712-5888 or via email at [email protected]