Calgary city council approved a plan on Monday to allow the zoo to expand its parking lots, and cover the project's cost by charging for the spaces.

The Calgary Zoo will implement a $5 per day parking fee beginning in July 2009 to offset the cost of the $7-million expansion of its north lot. The charge is also meant to discourage LRT commuters who park in the free lot and then take the C-Train downtown.

The zoo is borrowing $5.04 million while the city will cover $1.97 million of the cost because as many as 500 cars use the lot as a park-and-ride.

'If the zoo pass holders are going to get reimbursed, they're going to get a lot of zoo memberships.'— Ald. Ric McIver

Zoo visitors and LRT users will be charged for parking, but the zoo has said the fee will not apply to patrons who hold annual memberships.

Ald. Ric McIver didn't support contributing city funds to the project.

"If the zoo pass holders are going to get reimbursed, they're going to get a lot of zoo memberships," predicted McIver, who doubts the new fee will discourage commuters from using the lot.

"Because at $5 a day and 20 working days [a month] … it's $1,200 a year — just using rough numbers — and since a zoo pass costs less than that, I'm sure a lot of people that never visit the zoo will be buying a zoo pass."

Annual zoo passes cost $50 a year for adults, while discovery passports, which offer more benefits, cost $75 a year.