It's soon going to cost visitors at least $1 to park at Spanish Banks Beach.
The 744 free parking spots run by the parks board won't be free much longer after a decision at the May 7 meeting as the commissioners voted in favour of seasonal parking fees and meters to be installed this summer. The 12-month pilot project is expected to start in July.
Parks board administration told commissioners there were a variety of reasons to charge for parking at the beach, the only one in Vancouver where parking is currently free.
The reasons, according to business director John Brodie, included improved visitor experience, minimizing the impact to the Point Grey neighbourhood, improved parking enforcement, and more revenue for the parks board.
"EasyPark will be able to enforce from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and paid parking enables park rangers to enforce bylaws overnight," Brodie explained, noting vans and RVs often park for extended times in the lots.
Lower off-season rates are a possibility. Future changes to the rates will be brought up annually along with other park fees.
At the $1 per an hour rate during the peak season, the parks board expects $70,000 to be raised. Staff estimated it costs about $350,000 to maintain Spanish Banks beach, along with other capital costs for specific issues.
The paid parking in the lots will be rolled out at the same time as paid parking on the streets around the beach run by the city.
The vote from commissioners was not unanimous; Commissioner Jas Virdi was the lone holdout of the five board members in attendance.
"I think this is one of the few places left in the city that doesn't charge for parking and it's a place for people who are struggling and can't afford places to go, to go," Virdi said. "Taking the last sort of place that they can go for free, I think it's a little not fair, especially since the buses don't run there as frequently as they should."
Prior to the meeting, there had been public outcry against the plan. More than 4,000 people signed an online petition against the plan.
