Long-term Issues Return with the Sun
Editor's Note: Apologies for an errant post that went out earlier this evening. Gardening news will be coming soon, but tonight? We have parking.
Parking in Lions Bay has always been a bit of a touchy issue. Ensuring cars were parked fully off the road, no parking in cul-de-sacs or anywhere a fire truck needed to turn around. Divers and cliff-jumpers clogging lots by the beach have been an on-going, low-key nuisance. But in the last few years, the one-two punch of social media and the pandemic has changed the parking landscape in this village, perhaps irretrievably.
The sheer volume of traffic in the village is taxing our already-crumbling roads, blocking access for fire and rescue vehicles, damaging driveways and making roads dangerous for pedestrians and children. Despite repeated calls for a parking committee to address these issues before hiking season, here we are again.
This past weekend, when the first sunny temperatures of the year coincided with the annual village 'Give-Away' event and Mother's Day, the flood of cars entering the village was less astonishing than it was inevitable. By 8 a.m. the parking on Sunset and Mountain was full. As has become the norm on sunny weekends, cars spilled down Bayview Road, over-flowing the school's parking lot and lining both Centre and Crosscreek Roads. From that point until mid-afternoon, traffic clogged the streets as visiting hikers cruised for phantom parking spots.
Long-time resident Gail Craig is struggling with the fallout. "We are yet again in a horrendous situation that is increasing every year, without a parking plan. Hikers park everywhere they can fit a vehicle, including in front of the fire hydrant near the tennis court, in all our permit-only spots, part way across people’s driveways, in people’s secluded property areas and in the driveways at construction sites. They are continually backing into things and damaging property. "
Mountain Drive resident Rebecca Casperson has a whole library of photos depicting cars blocking the fire hydrant across the road from her home.
"It's no longer an issue limited to summertime," she says. "In the summer it's every weekend, but it's happening year round now."
"We need help," says Craig. "In fact we need, like in Deep Cove, to have a Bylaw Officer place a barricade with a 'local traffic only' sign at the top of Bayview, before someone is hit or injured."
The Watershed has reached out to Council and to new acting Public Works Manager for comment.
This is the first of a series of articles in The Watershed addressing parking issues and the attendant fallout: traffic, enforcement, and just what should happen to those vehicles parked in front of fire hydrants, anyway. Have a parking issue in your neighbourhood? The Watershed values your opinion. Leave your comments below, or email your thoughts to editor@lionsbaywatershed.ca
A bit hyperbolic?
o This is not a year round problem (it was dead in the village until the past few weeks).
o We do have a parking plan in place (we have paid parking spots that generate a sizeable amount of revenue for the village).
o The traffic isn't damaging driveways and roads (a properly paved road can handle the load!).
o Traffic and parking challenges in Deep Cove are an order of magnitude (or two!) worse than here (.Quarry Rock trail sees 3,000 people on a decent Saturday...)
o Residents have more than enough resident only parking (Mountain Dr. One of the worst hit streets has multiple empty resident spots at all times during peak hours).
Are there…
It comes down to enforcement and towing vehicles illegally parked. I fear the enforcement has been influenced by residents who are not plagued with these issues as others are. There is a very real threat during the hot summer months that an evacuation and/or fire fighting will be hampered by the poor parking behaviour we see near the hiking trails which in turn puts the entire village at risk. What's also not being enforced is the fire ban. We spotted this in the recycling bin at the Lions Trailhead recently:
I am beyond frustrated and angry with the parking situation. Around Mountain and Bayview is has become extremely dangerous, with cars so intent of finding parking they are barely watching for people walking, and they are parking illegally with nothing being done.
A couple weeks ago, I came out to my car to discover a car had parked perpendicular behind my car and another parked perpendicular in front! I had to get my kids to Provincals Championships and could not be late, but I had to take a huge amount of time to wiggle out...if the car in front of me had been slightly straighter I would not have been able to do it!
Basically, I can not park on…
One more comment…. During the previous parking committee survey— there was much concern around paid parking, parking fines and how Lions Bay was going to remain ‘welcoming’ while at the same time protect our streets, structures, and our community safety. Different streets have different challenges— at the time we were known more as a beach community. Now known as a hiking hot spot, a naughty cliff diving spot, and a family beach spot where $30/day parking allows for a van of 8 to enjoy a whole day at the beach- we are an inexpensive day trip for most cash stretched city folk. It’s working to ensure there are funds recouped from visitors to ensure our community has the budget t…
Bayview, Mountain, Sunset has become a trailhead parking lot. Fines and signage are important to deter dangerous parking. This is a revenue source for the village so policy change is unlikely.
Restricting access to our watershed would protect our water source but the provincial government would not support.