The Burlington council has voted unanimously to end the city's lease for a downtown parking lot adjacent to the former Canton Restaurant at 423 Fairhaven Ave., a space that provides 49 parking stalls and has been used for public parking under successive short-term agreements.
What council decided
The lease, which has been handled month-to-month in recent years, is due to expire at the end of July. Under the termination decision, the city will cease leasing the lot from the property owner, restaurateur Nick Crandall.
- The lot contains 49 spaces.
- Previous lease rates: initially US$1,000 per month in 2016, reduced to US$850 in 2022, and set at US$875 per month under an extension in 2024 through November 2025.
- Council acted citing a need to reduce costs and the view that on-street parking supply meets current demand.
Background and rationale
Mayor Bill Aslett told council the city has been reviewing costs and concluded terminating the lease was a prudent way to save municipal funds. Aslett said the demand for parking does not appear to be as strong as when the lease was first arranged, and that the city already provides a "fairly significant amount of parking."
"It didn't appear that the need (for parking) was still the same as it was when we originally leased it, and the council wanted to be fair, so I talked to Nick several different times, and he understood the situation," Aslett said.
Owner perspectives and market context
Nick Crandall, who also owns other local restaurants including Train Wreck Bar & Grill and Railroad Pub & Pizza, had communicated with the city in March seeking to discuss the monthly lease price. Crandall supplied market comparisons suggesting the 49 stalls had a market value in the range of roughly US$2,000 per month at the low end to as much as US$3,000–US$5,000 per month at higher estimates.
According to Aslett, Crandall ultimately "realized there is quite a bit of parking on the street, and it's not being overwhelmed," and he remains interested in developing the property at some future point though no specific plan has been presented.
Parking supply and data cited
Information provided by the Community Development Department included a note that on-street parking utilisation has shown relatively little change over the past five decades. An aerial photo from 2025 was referenced in material to council but no new utilisation counts were disclosed in the public report.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Address | 423 Fairhaven Ave. |
| Owner | Nick Crandall |
| Number of spaces | 49 |
| Recent monthly lease rate | US$875 (extension through Nov. 2025, paid month-to-month) |
City officials told council the step will help reduce municipal spending. No estimate of the projected annual or multi-year savings was provided in the report to council.
What this means for downtown users
With the termination of the lease, the property owner regains full control of the lot and may choose a different use or a new lease arrangement in the future. City officials maintain that on-street parking and existing municipally provided parking should absorb demand without major disruption.
For residents and businesses downtown, the immediate effect is that the 49 spaces will no longer be guaranteed for public use under the city's arrangement. Council and the Community Development Department have cited historical stability in on-street utilisation as a basis for the decision, but no detailed, recent counts were released alongside the termination decision.
Council's unanimous vote concludes a multi-year series of short-term leasing arrangements that began in 2016 and were adjusted in subsequent years as the city re-evaluated its needs and costs.
