North Vancouver restricts visitor parking at popular Deep Cove

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The small town of Deep Cove on the North Shore is such a popular destination in the summer that circling its streets to find parking may be, by default, the most common activity upon arrival.

And with more and more visitors expected this summer, North Vancouver District Council voted last week to reduce hundreds of unrestricted street spots available during peak season, turning most of them into permit-only spaces. residence and converting others into limited time spaces. places.

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District staff estimated Deep Cove streets have 910 on-street parking spaces, 770 of which were unrestricted before the council vote. The new restrictions will leave only 170 places without limit.

“This is not an insignificant change,” Mayor Mike Little said during the debate, but it was seen as a necessary trade-off to deal with the traffic chaos that descends on Deep Cove each summer before the May long weekend.

Gavin Joyce, the district’s director of engineering, parks and facilities, called it “the council’s best opportunity right now” to address the “chaos” during 2024.

“We’ve made changes to Cove every year,” Joyce said. “Whether it be overflow parking or changes around (resident permit-only parking).”

However, Joyce said city engineers are “running a little bit short of tools” to deal with the conditions. “So everything depends on a community political decision on this front.”

What changes?

Deep Cove has 910 on-street parking spaces, of which 80 are designated for resident-only permit parking, 60 are dedicated to limited-time parking and 770 are unrestricted.

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The change will increase resident permit parking to 350 spaces with a $35 annual permit fee. To encourage turnover, 280 spaces will be subject to time limits for visitors, but not for residents. Another 110 spaces will be open to everyone, but for a limited time.

170 unrestricted on-street parking spaces will open, which the mayor worried would go too far for the public benefits of parking, particularly for Deep Cove businesses that struggle to keep their doors open in the off-season and rely heavily on measure of peak traffic.

Why is it changing?

Deep Cove, which was first laid out before the 1930s when there was little zoning, is dotted with narrow streets and many dead ends that are not conducive to heavy traffic.

However, with popular beaches and its status as the starting point for the Instagram-famous Quarry Rock, thousands of visitors flock to the town on sunny days throughout the summer, eroding its liveability and leaving many residents feeling of having been “under siege for a long time.” years”, in the words of the Count. Lisa Muri.

On busy weekends, Muri said it’s common to encounter illegally parked cars, parked in residents’ private driveways and “driving around the block dozens of times to try to find that coveted parking spot that’s a couple of miles away.” of blocks from (Cove Forest) park.”

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“It’s not just resident-only parking, so residents can park on the street and visitors can’t,” Muri said. “It is about managing the congestion of cars that do not stop arriving in the area on long weekends.”

How else can people get to Deep Cove?

TransLink bus routes 211 and 212 serve the neighborhood, but only on a limited frequency after rush hours, which “is not adequate weekend service,” Little said.

“We need to significantly increase weekend access on the 211 and 212 (bus) routes directly to Cove,” Little said.

Biking to Deep Cove is also difficult, which the county. Jordan Back ignored his reluctant support for restrictions.

“I will feel more comfortable making parking more restrictive when we have active transportation investments that are complete,” Back said. “At this time, there is still no safe way to travel to Deep Cove.”

What are some alternatives?

Joyce said it could be a full season before the effects of the restrictions are felt and “people are recognizing that it may not be worth the drive to the Cove because of limited public parking.” However, staff said they intend to report back to council before the fall.

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Count. Catherine Pope supported making all street parking payable, along with strict enforcement and stiff fines, as a way to send “a strong message that people can’t park for free all day (and) allow better flow of traffic”.

Miru said Deep Cove’s congestion problems are similar to situations other municipalities have resolved in different ways. Anmore, she said, implemented a reservation system to control traffic on the popular Buntzen Lake trails. Horseshoe Bay, she added, has had resident-only parking on most of its streets and directed visitors to central parking lots for decades.

Back suggested that Quarry Rock crowds could also be calmed by limiting access through a reservation system or hiker permits.

“I would love to take another look at the shuttle service and how we can make it more effective,” Back said.

Joyce said a previous attempt to create a shuttle service, which also included the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain as destinations, did not attract the number of riders expected.

He said staff are looking at options, such as a dedicated shuttle service to Deep Cove, with a pick-up point in the area of ​​the Iron Workers Memorial Bridge.

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