Starting this summer and every busy season after that, you will now have to pay to park at Panorama, Deep Cove and Whey-ah-Wichen (Cates) parks.
Officially, the reason given is to help control demand for limited spaces and encourage people to carpool, cycle or walk. In those respects, pay parking has been shown to encourage turnover and so we do not object.
But the fact that District of North Vancouver residents will be exempt from the pay parking rules for a $10-per year fee undermines the policy completely and reveals its true purpose: soaking outsiders.
If the intent were really to encourage people to use transit, council would not exempt the people with the most convenient transit access to the parks.
The rationale behind the exemption is that DNV property owners already pay for parks in their municipal taxes. But if council was worried about double dipping, they could have made the change revenue neutral and reduced property taxes accordingly.
This is about creating a new revenue stream paid only by visitors. District of West Vancouver council is equally guilty of this miserly tactic at its most popular parks.
It sends the message that we are parochial, inequitable and unwelcoming – an awful look for two communities blessed with some of the most beautiful and vast destination parks in B.C.
We’d note that when North Shore residents pay to park anywhere in Vancouver, they pay the same amount that Vancouver residents do.
Charging others to park while exempting ourselves has the effect of putting up an invisible fence around nature that is supposed to be open to all. The more we do this, the more disconnected we all become.
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