Ask any Downtown Squamish merchant, and they will tell you that finding parking is challenging for many people. As a small business owner, I am often told by customers that they avoid coming downtown because they can’t find parking close to the business they wish to patronize. It’s not always full, but there are prime times when it can be tricky.
This is not good news for our local small businesses who are tying to thrive in a tough business environment. A downturn in the economy coupled with competition from big box stores and online shopping and it’s become all the more challenging to bring people into the store and show what we have to offer. We can compete with malls by offering quality products and excellent service, but we simply lose when it comes to parking.
That is why it’s crucial that the District of Squamish (DOS) does a thorough job of public engagement (and listens to its residents) before it considers an expensive paid parking program it can’t roll back. DOS council has always claimed it wants to create a thriving downtown commercial hub, and yet some of its policies have not aligned with that rhetoric. For example, the DOS has allowed many parking variances, which means residential overflow is clogging downtown streets. This policy will likely yield even more problems in the years to come.
And as much as the DOS and our councillors want us to ditch the car, it’s not practical to take a bike or a bus when shopping for and with a family. Realistically, we live in a town where it rains more often than not, and housing is spread out over long distances. Our lives are busy juggling work, school, and activities. As a children’s store owner, I see a lot of parents who have no option but to take the car if they want to get everything done in the short time available.
Now, let’s talk about paid parking. The DOS proposes to implement paid parking on Cleveland Avenue and Second Avenue, the busiest areas of downtown. Their reasoning? To create more turnover. But I fear it will give people more reason to avoid downtown. If you’re sick, need to see a doctor, or require other essential community services—all concentrated downtown—you shouldn’t have to face the added financial burden of paying to park. For cancer patients or anyone with a chronic illness, this will be a real hardship.
Paid parking is also going to hurt employees. There’s no plan to provide adequate employee parking, and while the DOS has proposed monthly permits they are simply unaffordable for many workers. How is it fair to ask the very people who keep downtown businesses and services running to shoulder this cost? Plus, if employees are permitted to park in paid spots all day, it undermines the whole purpose of creating turnover.
Although the district has held an online public consultaion plan, they should have first consulted local business owners in downtown who will be affected the most.
If anyone at the DOS is listening, here are some things that I think will work:
1) Create a mix of short-term and long-term parking. For example, many parts of Cleveland and Second Avenue could be shortened to one-hour parking, while areas closer to medical offices and other service could have longer-term spots. Enforce time limits, ticket those who break the rules, but don’t charge for general parking.
2) Develop employee specific parking. The DOS should be working on a plan to convert areas along Loggers Lane into angled parking specifically for downtown workers who are essential to a vibrant local economy. This would ease pressure on street parking and create a more sustainable solution.
3) Use revenue wisely. Any funds from parking variances or tickets should go directly into infrastructure improvements to downtown parking. So far, we haven’t seen that happen.
Ultimately, this issue boils down to what kind of town we want our Squamish to be. Most of us choose to live here because it’s not a big city. We don’t want the hassles, stress, and nickel-and-diming that come with urban living. If the DOS really wants to support local businesses and preserve the small-town charm we all cherish, they need to rethink their approach and consider what’s best for their residents.
Let’s create a downtown that works for everyone: businesses, residents, and visitors alike. Paid parking is not the answer—it’s just another barrier to preserving Squamish as the vibrant community we all love.
Marie-Louise Towers is the owner of Kaos Kids on Cleveland Ave in Downtown Squamish
Judi says
Well said Marie-Louise, your comments echoed my comments on the traffic survey that I filled out. As a long time resident of Squamish the “parking” problem in Squamish is horrible and doesn’t meet the needs of use of the downtown core. I hope council is listening!
David J Lassmann says
I remember a time when Squamish politics was all about shopping taking place downtown. Much has changed since then, including the development of the Canadian Tire strip mall and the development of Walmart and other businesses in what was supposed to be an industrial park.
Squamish has been allowing, even encouraging the development of businesses in the downtown area without requiring supporting parking. This is in contrast to the practice during the development of the McKenzie Mall, the two Overwaitea malls, and the Station Mall, each of which had associated parking lots, primarily for an IGA store, Overwaitea stores, and what is now a Nestor’s.
It is clear that Squamish is looking forward to the day when most people will not be able to afford to drive a car and will therefore take public transit or use alternative transportation such as e-bikes. In the meantime our parking issues will only get worse, especially if Squamish and the BC government continue to push for tourism and high density housing development.
The first step to solving a problem is to correctly identify or define it. What is it that needs to be solved? The use of pay parking will solve nothing because it doesn’t address the real source of the parking problem.
Jon L says
Great way to ruin struggling businesses, implement paid parking. We frequent Cleveland avenue from Furry Creek, from which there is no public transport, and use an EV car. The last thing we are going to do is pay for parking in what is an area that is already 20% more expensive than Burnaby or North Van. But hey what does your council care, they’re already plotting the demise of capitalist activity in what is already a spartan populated area. All going to plan. Oh Canada.
N_Dj says
@Marie-Louise Towers – This is an excellent reasoning… Unfortunately, it seems that the the majority of DOS Council has lost touch with the reality long time ago… Their agenda was (rightfully) questioned many times, but not much has changed… Good luck!