A proposal by the district to put seasonal pay parking in Deep Cove is not sitting well with some locals and visitors who say the area will lose its village charm.
“I think it’s moronic, to be honest. To hear they are even thinking about putting machines here, I find disturbing,” said Cafe Orso owner Jonathan Hayward, on an unseasonably hot April afternoon that drew crowds to the Cove.
It’s a scene reminiscent of most spring and summer weekends in the waterfront enclave: throngs of hikers and day-trippers descending on Deep Cove, circling around through the narrow streets in search of an often elusive parking spot.
There are 2,000 Quarry Rock hikers alone that come to the Cove every weekend, according to a District of North Vancouver staff report.
To offset some operating costs – trail maintenance and garbage pickup, for example – attributed to a steady influx of park visitors, the district is considering charging $2 per hour or $6 a day in the Deep Cove and Panorama parking lots from April to September. Cates Park, recording 3,200 vehicles each summer weekend, is also being considered for the pilot parking project, aimed at recovering costs from non-North Shore residents.
The district stands to earn between $682,000 and $1.3 million in annual parking revenues from four parks, depending on how many stalls are allocated for the program. Cates Park has approximately 260 parking spaces, while the Panorama and Deep Cove lots have a total of 93 stalls.
Coun. Lisa Muri supports the pilot program but said free parking passes should be given to all district residents.
“Over 50 per cent of the visitors are coming from outside the North Shore.Everyone needs to take some responsibility for the impact on our parks,” said Muri, adding the parking revenue should be put directly back into the parks for more rangers and maintenance.
Hayward figures parking meters might scare visitors away.
“I hope there is nothing to deter people from being able to come here,” he said.
A recent Air France magazine article promoting Quarry Rock and the Cove as a must-do excursion in Vancouver was the talk of the Orso coffee shop on a recent Monday afternoon. Hayward welcomes the attention.
“There’s no such thing as a secret place anymore, these people can’t wait to Instagram it,” he said. “I chose to live in an amazing place and I think it’s amazing that people want to come here.”
A New Westminster resident visiting Deep Cove said he might reconsider coming back if there’s pay parking.
“I think it’s a bad idea,” said Mike Loi, who frequents the Cove five times a year because his daughter loves being by the water. “Tourism comes and who benefits from it is the businesses. They already tax the businesses and now they want to tax the tourists.”
Bringing bike corrals to the Cove and encouraging people to leave their cars at home is one solution being considered. Coun. Mathew Bond said he wants to work with local business owners to make the bike racks happen as a pilot project during the summer.
Hayward is already on board, offering to pay for a giant bike rack.
“We’re in the spot where Cove Bikes was invented, at the base of essentially where mountain biking evolved,” said Hayward, who recently purchased bikes for his whole staff to encourage them to ride to work.
Deep Cove Kayak owner Erian Baxter, whose business is steps away from one of the Cove parking lots, said the district ultimately needs to keep working with the community to improve parking in the area.
“It’s understandable that one step might be to charge for parking in the parks, however if that just shifts parking onto streets then it’ll just end up frustrating residents even more,” said Baxter.
The logistics around implementing pay parking at four district parks, including Lynn Canyon and the base of Mount Fromme, were discussed during council workshops on April 18 and 25.
Calling it a “regressive tax” at its heart, Coun. Jim Hanson said pay parking would impose a financial hardship on low-income families that want to enjoy the park on a Sunday afternoon.
Council could not come to a consensus on pay parking during the April 25 meeting. The district will continue to explore options for parking management strategies that may include time-limit parking in their busiest parks.
