It’s getting out of hand.
Parking in Nelson has become an increasingly contentious issue, with a shortage causing routine conflicts for business owners and residents trying to maneuver the growing crisis. And with washed-away parking lines and uncleared snowbanks further exacerbating the issue, some feel like it’s time for drastic action.
Recently the city upped the price of a seniors parking pass, a move that has incensed some elderly residents. The recently completed Nelson Commons has underground parking and a newly paved Baker Street lot, but other institutions aren’t as lucky. The Savoy Hotel, for instance, does not have a single stall to offer its customers.
And none of this is particularly new.
Recently Mayor Deb Kozak sat down with former mayor Dave Elliot for a check-in. Inevitably, the conversation turned to the city’s parking woes, which Kozak characterized as “intense.”
“Dave said ‘When I was mayor, parking was a major issue and it’s never going to go away. Every mayor and every council has had to deal with this, and it’s always going to be an issue,’” Kozak told the Star.
But according to her “the pressure is growing.”
“There still is this car culture that’s alive and well in Nelson, and with our tourism numbers growing the pressure of having all these vehicles coming into the city and what to do with them when they get here is something that’s top of mind for all of us. I would say it’s something we’re looking at very closely.”
What about that spot on Vernon Street?
One solution that’s been floated over the years as a way to relieve the pressure is the construction of a new parkade downtown. Many have their eyes on the parking lot downhill from Vernon Street, which is owned by local realtor Ross Lake.
“I think it’s a heck of a great idea, but it’s the cost of building a parkade that’s the really big issue. The capital expenditure to build a parkade is really high, in the millions of dollars, and we as a city simply don’t have that at our disposal,” said Kozak.
“Cement is expensive.”
So the city would have to find a partner willing to sink capital into both purchasing the lot and then building the structure. And Hume Hotel and Best Western owner Ryan Martin thinks it’s the right time to pull the trigger, if the city can find the right champion for the project.
“It’s a big gaping hole in our downtown core,” he said.
Lake and his partners are game to sell, and have looked into the possibilities already. According to their calculations there’s room for three levels of parking below street level with commercial spaces or condominiums on Vernon.
It could accommodate between 150 to 170 cars.
“There could be one owner for the parking aspect, and then one or a number for the commercial and retail spaces. Then maybe you put strata apartments above. It’s a very simple concept for somebody if they can get together a multitude of owners,” said Lake.
But he’s not optimistic.
“The value of parking needs to be recognized. There needs to be some recognition that we have an economy in the downtown core and it’s going to require parking. Whether this council has the ability to see that and support high tax supported parking, I don’t know. Maybe a future council will.”
He said with monthly rentals between $35 and $70, there simply isn’t a way to make your money back as a developer. The only way to make it feasible would be to up prices.
Frustrations mounting
Business are loathe to resort to the extreme measures the crisis has pushed them to, but see few options beyond immobilizing and towing illegitimately parked cars.
Martin’s currently grappling with the long-term idea of building additional levels of parking in his lot across from the Best Western as that area of town continues to develop. He recently hired two surveillance and customer service staff members to monitor his lots because of the increasing number of people attempting to park for free.
“It’s extremely frustrating. It’s become a crisis situation in town. We do all we can to protect our parking, including fining and towing — which is never a fun thing to do —but we’re trying to get the message out.”
Lake is frustrated by the number of people who park at the Nelson and District Community Complex every day.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “Our clients are tired of watching people walk up the hill from that parking lot to go shopping.”
‘The streets used to belong to people’
According to the West Kootenay Ecosociety’s Montana Burgess, parking isn’t the real problem — transportation is. And the only solution she can see is large-scale investment.
“Putting cars first is a problem. We have to put people first,” she said.
“The bigger issue if we want to tackle parking is we have to address transportation beyond talking about single-occupancy vehicles. We need more buses and rapid transit options, and better infrastructure like the bike lanes that Castlegar has done.”
In her estimation, “people need more options.”
The Ecosociety’s Rideshare website isn’t currently being used much for carpooling, but she thinks it could be. She’s also buoyed by news that Nelson is now starting to install electric charging stations.
Burgess would personally love to see Baker turned into a pedestrian thoroughfare, another idea that’s been floated over the years.
“Our downtown is beautiful and vibrant, and I think that would be a beautiful way to keep it that way. The streets used to belong to people, but since the industrial revolution we’ve made cars the priority. That needs to change.”
Current parkade crammed, waitlisted
Nelson owns the current parkade, beside the Hume Hotel, while Jim Reimer runs it on contract. Currently it’s at full capacity, but they sometimes have spots on weekends. He offers 173 stalls, with 29 of them daily spots and the rest monthly.
“I could rent it all out on monthly parking if I wanted to — I have a waiting list … Parking has disappeared in Nelson,” he said.
He said building a parkade costs approximately $35,000 per stall. He agrees with Lake that economically it just doesn’t work, no matter how necessary it may be.
“There used to be parking down at west end of Baker but when the Chamber came they took parking away. There used to be parking on the east end of Baker but when the Commons came in they took that away.”
Looking for short-term solutions
Kozak knows there are those in the community who would like to see Baker closed to car traffic, but said there’s “significant pushback from the business community.”
But she’s open to innovative ideas in that vein.
“I think this is an issue that, as a community, we need to have a conversation about.”
In the meantime, they recently got together city staff to study the issue further and figure out how to attack it from multiple angles: re-painting lines, adding new spots and improving public transit.
“This issue won’t be going away any time soon,” said Kozak.
-With files from Bill Metcalfe
