Homeowners and tenants in Dubai's Uptown Motor City are pushing back against a new paid parking scheme for visitors that property management company Edacom plans to introduce on September 3.
Residents opposing the plan, being introduced in partnership with the parking operator Parkonic, claim they were not adequately consulted and are concerned about the Dh5 per hour fee to park.
Edacom told The National it was introducing an automated, ticketless system “to enhance the efficiency and accessibility of community parking facilities”.
The company said owners and residents had been given a month’s notice “to ensure that they have sufficient time to understand the new arrangements and prepare accordingly”.
Pooja Wadhwa, an apartment owner who has lived in the community for six years, said an official notice on August 4 referenced the “Parkonic-Salik integration” and its September 3 roll-out, but did not provide an adequate window for consultation.
Visitor parking only
Edacom said the new charges apply only to visitor parking, with a 15-minute grace period before the Dh5 per hour fee kicks in.
Parkonic added that residents' parking would remain free, with spaces allocated according to title deeds and existing regulatory and community arrangements.
The friction point is what happens beyond that allocation.
Each apartment comes with one or two complimentary spots, but residents with extra vehicles will need to pay – either the hourly rate or a long-term membership, details of which, Edacom says, will be sent out on September 1.
Parkonic said parking membership options were also being considered.
Edacom said the hourly fees were meant to keep visitor spaces available “for genuine visitors and retail customers” while improving traffic flow and overall parking management.
Homeowner Janani Johnson said long-stay and abandoned vehicles have taken advantage of free parking for years. Other owners said they were not opposed to better parking management, but were sceptical that paid parking was the right fix.
Edacom to monitor roll-out
When residents contacted Edacom, they said they were told a portion of the revenue would go towards offsetting service charges, but Ms Wadhwa said, “no revenue projection or cost-benefit analysis was shared”.
Residents also said the terms should be softened, limiting charges to 8am – 10pm instead of 24 hours, and waiving fees on weekends so residents are not paying to park at their own homes.
Ms Johnson said: “Charging does not necessarily eliminate misuse. It changes the basis of entitlement from being a genuine visitor to being someone willing to pay.”
Edacom said it would monitor the roll-out and continue taking community feedback into account.
“Our main goal is to maintain a well-managed, accessible and secure community while balancing parking needs for residents, visitors, and retail customers,” the company said.
The system will run on automatic number-plate recognition technology to monitor vehicles and enforce proper use of visitor spaces.
