The last remaining beach within the City of Vancouver with free parking will see a transition at the end of this week to pay parking.
The parking lots along Spanish Banks Beach Park will become pay parking starting on Friday, July 12, 2024. The Vancouver Park Board confirmed this start date with Daily Hive Urbanized today.
Signs have also recently been posted at the parking lots to give beachgoers more advance notice of the changes.
This follows the approval by the Park Board’s elected commissioners in May 2024 to implement year-round pay parking at the popular beach starting this summer. This is intended to be a pilot project, at least initially.
Parking rates will begin at $1 per hour during the peak season through September, and an off-season rate for the fall, winter, and early spring months will be determined at a later date.
This summertime rate will apply daily from 9 am to 10 pm across all four parking lots at Spanish Banks Beach with a combined total capacity of 744 vehicle parking stalls.
EasyPark is managing the pay parking lots, and the fees can be paid by PayByPhone, Zipby, Honk Mobile, or Park Mobile. The parking rates include GST and parking sales tax of 24%. Park Rangers will enforce bylaws overnight, including issues with illegal overnight and/or long-term parking of RVs and other vehicles.
Pay parking lots at Spanish Banks Beach Park. (EasyPark)
Parking lots at Spanish Banks Beach Park. (Google Maps)
According to Park Board staff, there are issues with traffic and parking at these areas during the busy periods of the year, with the scheme intended to encourage parking turnover and alternative modes of transportation, including public transit, walking, an cycling. This is also deemed to be a revenue opportunity to help cover the operating costs of Vancouver’s parks and recreation system.
But the pay parking scheme has also been panned, with one of the most common issues raised being the lack of good, direct public transit. TransLink’s season No. 42 bus route serving Spanish Banks is seasonal only, infrequent, and uses a small-capacity community bus shuttle vehicle. Other bus route options are located uphill on West 4th Avenue.
An online petition against pay parking at Spanish Banks Beach has attracted over 6,100 signatures to date.
To address the possibility that there will be a spillover of parking demand into the nearby residential neighbourhoods, the municipal government is working with residents on potentially implementing residential permit parking.
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.