The days of free (or almost-free) parking on North Vancouver’s busiest streets may soon be coming to an end.
City of North Vancouver council is set to vote this Monday on a suite of changes including charging to park on the street in commercial areas where demand outstrips supply, drastically increasing the price of residential street parking permits and opening them up to residents who live in apartments, along with dedicating more curb space exclusively for loading zones and parking for people with disabilities.
At the April 7 council meeting, Jennifer Draper, the city’s deputy director of transportation, reminded council that there hadn’t been any major review of the city’s parking policies since the 1990s.
“We are the only urban city in this region who does not charge for parking on our commercial high streets, and who excludes multi-family buildings from accessing permit parking, causing challenges for businesses and residents alike. Updating our parking policies is long overdue,” she said.
If approved, drivers would end up paying $3 per hour to park on the busiest commercial streets in Lower and Central Lonsdale. The price of a resident-only parking permit would go from $2.10 per month to $15 per month for a single vehicle, and $30 per month for a second.
Draper said rates are intended to be aligned with other municipalities while encouraging residents and visitors to make better use of off-street parking options, which tend to be underused even at peak times.
Implementation of the plan would be done gradually, starting this summer.
Council first debated the plan in May 2024. Since then, city staff have been doing public consultations, which yielded unsurprising if nuanced results.
“As expected, most people don’t like paying for parking, but there’s recognition that this is the only tool left that the city can use for improving parking availability in busy commercial areas,” Draper said.
To view the entire staff report on parking changes, click here.
North Vancouver residents speak out
Numerous residents turned out to council to speak up on Monday.
Lower Lonsdale resident Lori Kilback warned that any loss of permit parking in exchange for pay parking would be punitive, especially for families who can’t get everything done on foot close to home.
“Our catchment school is 1.6 kilometres away. That is far too far to walk with a small child. There is no efficient public transportation to get there, especially if you have work obligations,” she said.
David Cumming, also from Lower Lonsdale, reminded council members they bore the responsibility for the growing demand for parking without a providing the needed new supply.
“Why is the city incentivizing more driving and parking for out-of-town visitors in the Lonsdale core? Why is it at the cost of local tax-paying residents and most importantly, where the hell am I supposed to park this year?” he said. “High density developments are approved with the city with one parking space per unit, while families cram into apartments to weather a housing affordability crisis.”
Those who speak for the business community, however, were more keen to see the city make reforms.
John Bevan, executive director of the Lower Lonsdale Business Improvement Association, said there was “broad support” among his organization’s members.
“Increasing the availability and ease of parking can only benefit businesses and their customers who are looking for simple and cost-effective ways to get to and support their local businesses. I think now more than ever, we want to make it an easy choice for someone to support local,” he said.
Patrick Stafford-Smith, CEO of the North Vancouver Chamber, said his organization was also generally supportive of the recommendations related to the commercial areas. But he also warned the changes might be viewed cynically as a cash grab by the city if the new revenues aren’t used transparently and fairly. To that end, the chamber is urging council to keep both the parking fees and fines low, and for any surplus revenues be used to offset business taxes.
Central Lonsdale resident Brady Faught said his family of four gets by just fine with a single vehicle and urged council to go ahead for the benefit of the entire community.
“As it stands, our current design heavily prioritizes the free, unimpeded movement and storage of vehicles, and ultimately, doesn’t serve anyone particularly well,” he said. “I can understand any hesitancy around this topic, with affordability being a primary concern, but remember, free parking isn’t free. Someone is paying for it. My family, who walks to the CityMarket, is subsidizing that free parking in our grocery bills and our taxes.”
At the outset of the council discussion, Mayor Linda Buchanan specified the vote would be put off until the April 14 meeting to give the public more time to digest the proposed changes. Council members spent close to two hours putting questions to staff over how the new parking rules would be implemented.
While most kept their comments on the new parking regulations to themselves, Coun. Holly Back specified she did not have much sympathy for people parking on the street and using their garages to store things other than vehicles.
“Sorry, I do have an issue with that,” she said. “You have a parking space and then you’re going to complain about what we’re going to charge for the street, which I think is actually more than fair.”
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