An elderly couple who uses the Jericho Beach walking trails almost every day is looking to the city for answers.
For the last five years, Art and Florence Blott have made the two-minute drive from their home and have used the free parking in a lot off Point Grey Road during the off-season (Sept. 30 to April 1). At the end of last month, the pair noticed the sign advertising the free parking disappeared and that a “Pay Here” sign and money box replaced it.
Art called the city’s 311 number and confirmed that free parking was still the case. But on Dec. 5, the seniors were slapped with a $36 ticket by EasyPark.
“There were two cars in the parking lot at the time, and it’s a 40-car lot. My question is, who decided that EasyPark … be given the authority to make a parking regulation policy change of this magnitude that one would expect to come out of city hall?” he said.
According to its website, EasyPark is a city-owned non-profit corporation that manages 41 facilities, totalling over 10,836 parking spaces owned or leased by the city and various partners.
Florence reiterated much of her husband’s sentiments, arguing “if we are promoting healthy living in Vancouver, when we restrict the parents who don’t have a lot of money, we’re really interfering with our children’s life.”
She added fining drivers during the cooler months will also affect seniors.
“Some have a hard time walking, so sometimes they will take the car and stroll in the park. But if they’re on limited income, then it’s going to be a problem.”
Gordon Barber, manager of revenue services for the Vancouver park board, told the Courier the decision to charge Point Grey Road parking lot users year-round was made in the summer. The bylaw went into effect in October.
“The vast majority of our parking lots, probably in the range of 80 per cent are year-round paid parking. That really relates to use and demand.
This lot supports Brock House and the Vancouver Tennis Club. It has changed to a situation where there is year-round use of the lot,” he said.
Other locations that have year-round paid parking include Kitsilano Beach, Stanley Park and Third Beach.
For the Blotts, a notice telling them the parking policy was going to change would have been nice.
“I would think as a citizen, we would be obliged to be informed, not just give it to some private enterprise,” Art said.
But Barber said there’s no requirement to do so.
“The challenge is that we have dozens of lots, over 6,000 paid parking stalls, all at varying rates depending on the location. There’s no single mechanism to isolate a lot. Historically, if there’s a change in parking rates, we don’t have to give notice to users and visitors.”
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