As of yesterday, July 12, Spanish Banks Beach Park no longer has free parking.
Spanish Banks was the last remaining beach within the City of Vancouver with free parking, but beachgoers will now pay $1 per hour for a spot during the peak season through September. Off-season rates have yet to be determined.
The parking rate is in effect from 9 am to 10 pm across the four parking lots at Spanish Banks, with a total capacity of 744 parking spaces. Beachgoers can pay for a stall by PayByPhone, Zipby, Honk Mobile, or Park Mobile.
The pay parking comes into effect following a Park Board approval earlier this year in May, which elected to implement a year-round pay parking at the beach as a pilot project.
However, the move to pay parking has been met with fierce opposition. An online petition against the decision has already amassed over 6,600 signatures.
A similar public outcry in 2018 caused Park Board commissioners to cancel the last attempt to introduce pay parking at Spanish Banks.
With files from Kenneth Chan.