City of Squamish Report

[Aaron]

It all sounds great! I for one would be all for a parking fee if it meant that: 1. The lot got paved 2. They installed proper public washroom 3. As for the need for security, the piles of broken glass in the parking lot speaks to that necessity.
Now for all the haters who would be against this idea. Consider that the Smoke Bluffs parking lot are used primarily by non Squamish residence. Why would any community spend that kind of money to cater to a user group from out of town?

[Khoi]

It all sounds great! I for one would be all for a parking fee if it meant that: 1. The lot got paved 2. They installed proper public washroom 3. As for the need for security, the piles of broken glass in the parking lot speaks to that necessity.

Sounds good to me, so long as the parking fee is kept reasonable.

Now for all the haters who would be against this idea. Consider that the Smoke Bluffs parking lot are used primarily by non Squamish residence. Why would any community spend that kind of money to cater to a user group from out of town?

The first answer that came to my mind is for the money said group from out of town spends there. In other words, tourism.

[raingod]

I drive up from Vancouver on a regular basis. I spend money in Squamish, I dislike parking fees.

I could care less if the lot was paved.
I don't have a problem with outhouses and portapottys.
Don't leave anything in your car, short of having a full time security guard watching from when the first car arrives till the last car leaves thats the only security solution that works.

Ron

[Dru]

Isn't the point of having a free parking lot (and why it was created in the first place) so that climbers park there rather than in the subdivision, thus not annoying the residents?

At least that's the excuse they gave us when they moved the lot from its old location near Neat & Clean in the early 90s.

If they make the lot a pay lot now there will be more cheap types parking in random places and walking in thus annoying the locals.

[Aaron]

Don't leave anything in your car, short of having a full time security guard watching from when the first car arrives till the last car leaves thats the only security solution that works.

Ron

No, random security guard checks would work just fine. Not a fool proof plan, but it's enough of a deterrent to persuade most would be thieves.

If they make the lot a pay lot now there will be more cheap types parking in random places and walking in thus annoying the locals

Yes! and the toe truck companies will love it. Think of all the money the climbing community will be leaving in Squamish then. As for the 90's, give me a break. Am I the only one who's noticed a few changes in Squamish since the early 90's

[smallman]

This parking fee idea has just worked brilliantly at Murrin. When has the ticket kiosk there ever worked with all the vancouver crackheads breaking into it all the time. The same would occur in 5 minutes in the Smoke bLUFFS PARKING lot. The lot they should be charging for is the Chief Hikers parking lot. Make it cell phone payable or credit card and start towing all the hikers taking up all the camping parking spots. Besides there is a huge alternative free lot across from the adventure centre. The extra walk may help with your climbing and deter traffic to other less used areas.

[raingod]

No, random security guard checks would work just fine. Not a fool proof plan, but it's enough of a deterrent to persuade most would be thieves.

They don't work any where else, I don't see why they would work in Squamish. A random guard is no more a deterrent than the idea that a random climber might show up and catch them in the act.
Ron

[J Mace]

No, random security guard checks would work just fine. Not a fool proof plan, but it's enough of a deterrent to persuade most would be thieves.

Dont kid yourself, check out any parking garage in Vancouver.

I caught a thief last year and had him arrested, I was climbing at crag X and he saw me and I saw him and he continued to break into cars while I climbed. I just couldnt tell what he was doing, was he looking to see if it was his buddies car or..

When he ran off towrds the bush I untied and gave chase, I lost him in the Mcdonalds parking lot but managed to call police who corralled him, he broke into 4 cars in 20 minutes even smashing the big panel glass on a minivan

Point is I am not paying for a random security gaurd to patroll a parking lot surrounded by bush, these guys are gonna break into vehicles no matter what. So just leave the gack at home, leave the lot unpaved and take the meters somewhere else.

[Dru]

So just leave the gack at home, leave the lot unpaved and take the meters somewhere else.

Leaving your stuff at home is fine if you're day tripping from the city but less so if you're roadtripping. No surprise that thieves know this too and often target out of province vehicles.

[J Mace]

There are lockers around at hostels or campgrounds for road trippers

[rolfr]

Once upon a time the Canadian Government had a vast climbing area in the middle of nowhere. A climber said, "Someone needs to protect this cliff."

So the government created a climber watchman position and hired a person (bilingual, naturally) for the job.

Then the Government said, "How can the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a Planning Department and hired two people; one person to write the job description and one person to do time studies.


Then the Government said, "How will we know the climber watchman is performing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people; one to do the studies and one to write the reports.


Then the Government said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions: a Time Keeper and a Payroll Officer; then hired two more people to assist.


Then the Government said, "Who will be accountable for all of these people?" So they created an Administrative Section and hired three people: an Administrative Officer, an Assistant Administrative Officer and a Legal Secretary.


Then the Government said, "We have had this organization in operation for only one year and we are $18,000 over budget; we must cutback our overall costs." 


So they laid off the climber and closed the climbing area.

[bradley3297]

Love that story.

[davis]

How much did the federal government collect in income taxes from the whole racket? I hope their applications for employment insurance benefits were handled in a timely mannor.