Park Board to vote on starting year-round pay parking at Spanish Banks

Park Board set to vote on starting year-round pay parking at Spanish Banks Beach

A parking lot at Spanish Banks Beach Park. (Google Maps)

Year-round pay parking could soon begin at the Spanish Banks Beach Park.

Early next week, the commissioners for the Vancouver Park Board will vote on Park Board staff’s recommendations to proceed with a 12-month pilot project that introduces pay parking to the four parking lots at the popular beach in the northwesternmost corner of Vancouver in the West Point Grey neighbourhood.

Pay parking for the 744 stalls would begin in July 2024 with an initial peak season rate of $1 per hour between May and September. A future lower parking rate for the other months of the year, when the beach is far less busy, will be determined at a later date.

You might also like:

Pay parking at the lots would span from 9 am to 10 pm daily, and it would be managed by EasyPark, with Park Rangers enforcing bylaws overnight, including issues with illegal overnight and/or long-term parking of RVs and other vehicles.

Parking lots at Spanish Banks Beach Park. (Google Maps)

According to Park Board staff, the new pay parking scheme will address Spanish Banks Beach Park’s chronic issues with traffic congestion and parking, encouraging turnover, especially during the peak season. The recommended year-round pay parking scheme at the initial rate of $1 per hour is expected to generate over $70,000 in annual net revenue for the Park Board — equivalent to covering the cost of one full-time employee.

Park Board staff state the pay parking scheme aligns with the commissioners’ “Think Big” revenue generation strategy of creating new and additional sources of revenue to support the maintenance and improvement of Vancouver’s parks and recreation system.

Park Board staff will report back next year on their findings and any recommended refinements to the pay parking scheme.

Pay parking and permit parking also coming to adjacent streets

As a measure to help ensure the new pay parking scheme at Spanish Banks Beach Park’s parking lots does not prompt unintended issues with visitors parking in the adjacent residential neighbourhood, Park Board staff state they are working with the City of Vancouver’s engineering department to roll out further measures beyond the beach’s parking lots.

Along Northwest Marine Drive next to the beach, the City will simultaneously implement pay parking for the curbside street parking spaces — also starting by July 2024. There will be a similar rate of $1 per hour during the peak season, with lower rates at other times of the year.

Further south, in the residential streets of the West Point Grey neighbourhood near the beach, the City will propose to households the implementation of residential permit parking on their blocks. At least 50% of households on a block must be supportive of permit parking for it to proceed on that block.

spanish banks northwest marine drive pay parking

Pay parking areas at curbside street parking spaces on Northwest Marine Drive next to Spanish Banks Beach Park. (City of Vancouver)

Overall, there is also an intention to encourage visitors to use alternative modes of transportation.

However, there are limited public transit bus services at Spanish Banks Beach Park. The closest bus stops for regular year-round services are locate d up the steep hill on West 4th Avenue. During the weekends only in the summer, TransLink operates the No. 42 bus route between Alma Street (at the intersection with West Broadway) and Spanish Banks Beach Park.

However, the No. 42 comes infrequently — every 30 minutes from 7 am to 9:30 pm — and uses a small-capacity community shuttle bus. In 2023, the No. 42 saw 11,000 annual boardings, with averages of only 260 boardings per Saturday and 270 per Sunday/holiday.

Park Board staff first informed commissioners last month of their intention to bring forward a pay parking scheme for Spanish Banks Beach Park starting this summer.

The last attempt to commence seasonal pay parking at Spanish Banks Beach was in 2018, but it was eventually cancelled by Park Board commissioners at the time due to a major public outcry. The 2018 proposal called for pay parking between April 1 and September 30, with rates of $3.50 per hour, $13 per day, or $87 for a seasonal pass. As a compromise, the Park Board later shortened the season’s pay parking period to between the Victoria Day and Labour Day long weekends before completely cancelling the entire pay parking plan, which came just before the 2018 civic election.

Spanish Banks Beach and the downtown Vancouver skyline. (Josef Hanus/Shutterstock)

You might also like: