The town plans to take away the requirement that solely individuals who work in downtown Vancouver can get an on-street parking allow and improve the $100 month-to-month cap for these permits to $200.
Regulating weekend parking will apply solely to Evergreen Boulevard and south, stated Gabe Montez, town’s parking district supervisor, however metropolis employees plan to increase the traces north beginning in 2026.
Reactions
Enterprise house owners, Vancouver Farmers Market supporters, church buildings and philanthropy teams testified towards the modifications at Monday’s public listening to.
They particularly spoke towards revoking free weekend parking and rising the utmost hourly price for parking meters to $3.50. Metropolis employees stated they don’t plan on rising it to the utmost price instantly however simply need the flexibility to lift it increased.
Enterprise house owners fearful that making it costlier to park in Vancouver would dissuade potential downtown customers, particularly in an financial downturn. Vancouver Farmers Market supporters fearful about the place distributors would park in the event that they needed to transfer their automobile each two hours. Church leaders feared that increased costs would burden low-income churchgoers and discourage them from attending.
Those that function companies for homeless and low-income residents stated they’re particularly involved.
Adam Kravitz — whose nonprofit runs a males’s shelter, mail companies and homeless outreach at Saint Paul’s Church in downtown Vancouver — stated individuals who stay of their vehicles can not afford increased charges or paying for weekend parking.
“For many shelter guests, their car is their only other place to be,” he stated. “They have no other place to go. More cost and potential tickets that add up to create barriers, too many tickets, then what? Any threat to their vehicle and (stability) really feels deeply personal.”
Just a few individuals, nonetheless, expressed help for the plan, which has not been up to date in a decade.
“I should pay the city to store my private property on the public street in compensation for monopolizing that space,” Vancouver resident Tabor Kelly stated.
Council resolution
Earlier than voting on whether or not to approve the plan, Councilor Sarah Fox made a movement to scratch out a piece eliminating the transferability of parking funds.
She identified that encouraging a “park once” strategy by making individuals pay every time they transfer their automobile doesn’t encourage turnover, which metropolis employees had stated is a aim of elevated charges and weekend charges. Fox gave operating errands for example.
“It would be very inconvenient for me to have to purchase an hour ticket for each one of those stops,” she stated.
Montez, town’s parking district supervisor, stated eliminating parking cost transferability encourages individuals to make use of means aside from vehicles to journey to completely different areas.
The movement to strike the part failed, with Councilors Erik Paulsen and Bart Hansen, in addition to Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle, voting towards the modification.
Some councilors requested whether or not it was doable to nonetheless have Sundays free or exclude sure areas from regulated weekend parking.
Chopping out sections could be troublesome, metropolis employees stated, as a result of it might create parking spillover. Sunday is as energetic a day as Saturday, and most specialists advocate charging for parking as an answer for turnover, stated Patrick Quinton, financial improvement director for town.
“It is a difficult transition, and so I know there’s a lot of anxiety on that,” Quinton stated.
With solely Hansen voting “no,” the councilors in the end determined to cross the parking plan as is. They’ll evaluation information on its success quarterly.
