10/13/2025
Businesses lambaste West Vancouver council for new pay parking in Ambleside
Some are losing thousands of dollars in daily revenue, according to a string of complaints made at a recent meeting
Nick Laba Nick Laba
about an hour ago
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Maureen O’Brien, executive director of the Ambleside & Dundrave Business Improvement Association, says council should pause the new pay parking program. | Paul McGrath / North Shore News
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Local businesses are complaining that pay parking in Ambleside Park is costing them tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue, just two weeks after the program was introduced.
Business owners and managers gave West Vancouver council a piece of their minds on Monday (Oct. 6), after pay parking went into effect at the popular waterfront destination on Sept. 15.
Since then, it now costs $5.42 per hour for visitors to use one of the 440 municipal-owned spaces near the beach and Centennial Seawalk.
And, despite previous warnings from the Ambleside & Dundarave Business Improvement Association that forcing drivers to pay in the park will just drive them to leave their vehicles in spaces meant for customers in the commercial area, council is already eyeing 228 spots along Argyle for paid patronage as well.
But there is relief for West Van residents. In January, council waved the $27 annual fee for a resident parking pass. In April, council exempted drivers with veterans plates, an accessible parking placard and volunteers improving parks or trails. On Monday, council extended the exemption to volunteers on duty for district-led events.
Since launching pay parking at Ambleside Park, Coun. Sharon Thompson said she’s been getting a number of phone calls and emails.
“We do recognize that putting paid parking into Ambleside is very complicated with a lot of unintended consequences, and what we’re doing this evening is passing what we can easily change and deal with right now, but it isn’t where we’re stopping,” she said. “We’re continuing to do more work and more consultation to try and make sure this works for our community, keep our community vital and make sure everyone’s welcome and able to access us.”
Speaking to council, ADBIA executive director Maureen O’Brien said she’s recently conducted a survey with businesses on Bellevue Avenue and Marine Drive between 13th and 15th streets.
“There’s been a decrease in sales for the last two weeks in September over the previous years [in] the same time period, up to 30 per cent in most places. Preliminary reports from some of our nearby businesses have totalled $52,000 in lost revenue in two weeks because of parking,” she said.
“They’re now parking on Bellevue and Marine by the Grosvenor and underneath Grosvenor.... Capacity is often [reached] at 10 a.m. in the morning,” O’Brien said.
She acknowledged that district staff are working on a study about the program’s effectiveness, but said it’s already obvious staff should start working to fix it.
“We respectfully ask council to please consider pausing pay parking in Ambleside Park until May 1, 2026 when you get into your busy summer season and let us find real solutions,” O’Brien said.
Lack of parking enforcement to blame, dry cleaner says
Christin Fernandes, owner of Da Vinci’s Home on Bellevue, asked who in their right mind would pay more than $5 an hour in Ambleside Park when there’s free parking just steps away.
“The suggested policy not only defies common sense, to me, but also risks punishing small businesses and the broader community. Our businesses and livelihoods cannot become collateral damage as new streams for potential revenue are explored,” she said.
Earls regional director Ryan Emmerson said the restaurant’s Bellevue location has lost $1,000 per day since the program went into effect.
“If we extrapolate that over the year, I don’t think it’s very palatable to any business to be losing $400,000 revenue,” he said.
Malkin Cleaners owner Nigel Malkin blamed a lack of parking enforcement for many of the problems faced by businesses.
“When this came up, I said, ‘Yeah, go ahead, but you have to have bylaw enforcement.’ We have no bylaw enforcement, zero, none, and it’s an insult to every one of us,” he said. “Shame on you. Absolutely. Shame on you.”
West Vancouver municipal manager Scott Findlay said the bylaw team is very busy with complaints spanning many types of violations.
“There’s lots of reasons why there may not be somebody either responding to a complaint right away or being there to promptly deal with an issue,” he said. “I can honestly say that I have great faith in the bylaw team. Do I wish I could double the bylaw team in terms of a budget ask to have eight more people assigned to bylaw? I wish that that could happen.”
Corporate officer Hope Dallas added that the bylaw enforcement team has been working with a two-officer deficit.
“We have five out of seven positions filled currently, and we’re actively trying to fill those,” she said. “The position is hard to attract and it’s hard to retain as well, just given the nature of the work.”
Mayor Mark Sager said that council members had listened to everyone’s comments.
“We’re very sympathetic to the issue. We’ll try to find resolution,” he said.
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