Pay parking coming to Spanish Banks this summer after Vancouver Park Board vote
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Beachgoers visiting Spanish Banks will have to pay for parking starting this summer, the Vancouver Park Board decided Monday night.
Beachgoers visiting Spanish Banks will have to pay for parking starting this summer, the Vancouver Park Board decided Monday night.
Park board commissioners voted 4-1 in favour of charging for parking at the popular beach, in spite of public backlash.
Commissioner Jas Virdi was against the plan, saying it's "one of the few places left in the city that doesn't charge for parking."
"It's a place for people who are struggling and can't afford places to go, to go," Virdi said Monday night. "Taking away the last sort of place that they can go for free away I think it's a little not fair."
Virdi also argued buses don't run to the beach "as frequent as they should."
But other commissioners said the park board is underfunded, adding the fees will help.
"Even though there's a group that will be sensitive about it, I think it's proper for us to step forward," commissioner Tom Digby said during the meeting.
