Parking Issues on Nursery Hill and the Six Mile Area

Protective Services & Community Services Report

TO: Committee of the Whole FROM: Mark Groulx, Bylaw Enforcement Officer DATE: April 4, 2019 MEETING: April 9, 2019

Parking Issues on Nursery Hill and the Six Mile Area

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that Council confirm prohibiting overnight parking in the Thetis Park overflow parking lot.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To apprise Council regarding Parking issues in and around 6-mile road.

BACKGROUND DISCUSSION:

Bylaw Enforcement during 2018 resulted in a requirement to monitor the illegal parking along Atkins Road almost daily. As a result of development occurring on Nursery Hill Drive, many of the construction employees began parking on the boulevard along Atkins Road. Bylaw enforcement commenced issuing warning notices onto the vehicles in an effort to keep the road clear and safe for vehicle and cyclist traffic as well as pedestrians commonly using this stretch of road. (Appendix A - Atkins Road Stats)

After a number of months with new trades’ people arriving at the construction site and the numerous complaints received from residents of Nursery Hill drive regarding the traffic congestion on their strata road, the Bylaw Officer met with an employee of the company to discuss the ongoing issues. During the meeting with the company representative, the Bylaw Officer advised that construction employees were encouraged to park either in the Thetis Over Flow Parking lot, or at the east end of Atkins Road in an effort to mitigate the complaints by the residents of Nursery Hill Drive as well as reduce the frequency of parking illegally along Atkins Road in a posted “no parking zone”. (Appendix B – Nursery Hill Stats)

After a short period of time this recommendation appeared to alleviate many of the parking complaints from this area. Initially this recommendation reduced both the number of parking complaints and illegal parking along Atkins. As a result, both the construction employees and residents of Nursery Hill began to use the Overflow Parking for Thetis Lake.

After a few months the illegal parking along Atkins resumed requiring enforcement again.

In January 2019, a local resident attended the Bylaw Department and advised that he noticed many of the vehicles parked in the Overflow Parking for Thetis Lake had been parked for long periods of time. One was identified as having been parked in excess of 6 months without moving. The resident advised he noticed this each time he walked along Atkins Road in the evening. The resident expressed concern as he believed that residents of Nursery Hill were storing their vehicles on the lot. He believed this was unfair as many of the condo/strata’s suffer the same issue with regards to parking and felt this area should be properly and fairly enforced.

During the month of March, the Bylaw officer began to monitor the number of vehicles parked in Thetis Park overflow lot. Within a two-week period, the Bylaw officer spoke with many of the construction employees in an effort to discern whether these vehicles belonged to them or were associated to someone else. The employees advised they were not leaving their vehicles overnight due to the risks of being broken into or they just needed to be able to commute each day and park near the worksite.

The Bylaw officer began checking some of the license plates of vehicles that had been stationary for in excess of 72hrs in violation of Section 31 of the Streets and Traffic Bylaw No. 609. It was determined that most of these vehicles were registered to residents of Nursery Hill Drive. The Bylaw officer discovered that some residents of Nursery Hill began to use the lot for long-term storage of their vehicles. The Bylaw officer commenced enforcement of this issue and as a result three (3) vehicles were towed away while others were issued with warning notices advising of the Bylaw prohibiting both long-term parking. (Appendix C – Overflow Parking for Thetis Lake Stats)

The Bylaw officer conducted a patrol of the Thetis Park parking lot located at the top of six-mile road and noted that there were signs indicating “no overnight parking” posted. The Bylaw officer contacted a member of engineering and discussed this observation and requested a similar sign be posted within the Overflow Parking for Thetis Lake in an effort to remain consistent in the enforcement of these lots and to prevent confusion by users. The impetus for this initiative was the realization that spring was fast approaching, and a sign would prevent campers and others from parking overnight in this lot.

Another observation made by the Bylaw officer was that during the summer months, Thetis Park closes its gates every evening in an effort to deter overnight camping in their lot. As a result, people requiring overnight camping would merely park in the Overflow Parking for Thetis Lake. In some cases, they would remain for a period of time believing it was a permissible activity.

The Bylaw officer also received concerns from a member of the Parks Dept. advising that many of the people parking overnight were consistently dumping their garbage and refuse into the surrounding Blackberry bushes and this pattern usually worsened during the summer season.

Currently observations indicate that many of the residents of Nursery Hill are parking their vehicles in the Overflow Parking for Thetis Lake during the day. It is uncertain if these vehicles remain overnight. However, it appears that the vehicles are being moved daily meeting the requirements of Section 31 of the Streets & Traffic Bylaw No. 609. Should a complaint be received about vehicles parking overnight, the plan is to issue warning notices only until such time as a Traffic Order is authorized.

The sign prohibiting overnight parking is deterring both residents of View Royal and visitors from using this area as a potential campground or storage facility for vehicles.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that Council confirm prohibiting overnight parking in the Thetis Park overflow parking lot.

SUBMITTED BY: Mark Groulx, Bylaw Enforcement Officer

REVIEWED BY: Rob Marshall, Acting Fire Chief