Queenstown Lakes District Council parks manager Gordon Bailey said gardens users sometimes found it "a struggle" to find one of about 140 parks, as it was full of town-centre workers who parked there all day.
"It will help ensure that it is always used by genuine park users to make it more friendly for all users of the park," he said.
The move follows last year's introduction of paid parking at the library car park in Boundary St and the recreation ground car park, as well as an increase in fees at the Ballarat St car park.
Submissions on the plan, which was publicly notified in November, have already closed and a hearing panel must decide in the plan's favour before it can be presented to the Queenstown Lakes District Council for adoption at its April meeting.
When approached by the Queenstown Times, QLDC transport manager Denis Mander said the decrease in free all-day parking would mean drivers might have to consider the pay car parks in town or alternative transport options.
"Inevitably, we're asking people to look at other options and what we know as a district is that we can't continue to grow and grow with single-occupant cars," "We don't have the road capacity and we don't have the parking in the town centre to provide for all of those, and, like any district that is growing, we need to consider looking to develop a more robust transport system."
Although they would not work for everyone, options included the council's free parking for car-poolers and the bus system, he said.
"There will be some people in the district [who] won't able to use public transport from where they are and we're not saying 'thou shalt use public transport', but there are options.
"Some people will continue to drive in. They can choose to be car-poolers and use that or they may choose to pay, but it is one of those difficult areas where we all know that, for environmental reasons and for reasons of sheer affordability, we just can't afford to keep relying on that infrastructure."
Mr Mander was aware people would still be searching for free car parks.
"Evidently, people will shift to the streets in the area and that will be something that we need to keep an eye on in terms of the impact that may have when people move to residential parking."
The 240-minute time restriction will be in place from 8am to 8pm, initially in just the northern car park, but will be extended to the southern car park as demand requires.
A prohibition on parking on any grassed areas will also be put in place.
• Please send your thoughts on the proposed parking changes to joe.dodgshun@odt.co.nz
