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Whistler Chamber surveying members on pay parking

One proposal would mean end to free parking in all five lots during day
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Businesses wanted a voice, and the Whistler Chamber of Commerce is hearing them out.

The Chamber announced to members last week that the Parking Management Committee, a committee of the Resort Municipality of Whistler and Whistler Blackcomb that oversees parking operations in the Day Lots, decided to delay an announcement about a revised User-Pay Parking strategy so that it could gather more input from Chamber members.

The Chamber has launched a User-Pay Parking Survey to collect feedback from members and solicit solutions regarding pay parking. Data gathered through the survey will be taken into account as the parking strategy is finalized. Chamber members were asked to complete it by March 24 at 9 a.m.

Kevin Wallace, managing partner for Earls and a critic of the existing parking regime, welcomed the chance to provide feedback on a new strategy.

"I think what they're doing is a good thing," he said of the Chamber survey. "Asking for feedback from the Whistler business community is a good thing and the more open they are to a variety of solutions to fix the currently broken problem would be great."

The survey queries members on a host of issues, such as how their revenue has changed, percentage-wise, since pay parking was implemented in Day Lots 1, 2 and 3 in the summer of 2010. Lots 4 and 5 have remained free of charge.

The survey asks members what factors have impacted their business levels and whether pay parking is having an effect on their business volume. It also asks members to consider alternatives to pay parking, such as what sort of increase in business property taxes operators would be prepared to absorb in order to meet projected parking revenues.

The survey includes a number of alternatives to the current pay parking strategy proposed by the Parking Management Committee. One of them would see pay parking extended to Lots 4 and 5, in addition to Lots 1, 2 and 3. The rate would remain at $2 an hour.

Evening rates for Lots 1, 2 and 3 would commence at 6 p.m. and go until 3 a.m., with summer rates set at $6 and winter rates set at $5. Lots 4 and 5 would remain free in the evenings.

Village employees and volunteers, meanwhile, would get the option of purchasing a monthly parking pass for $30, allowing them to park in Lot 3 East and Lots 4 and 5. There would also be a monthly parking pass available for $65 for anyone who wishes to purchase it.

There are currently no monthly passes available and evening parking rates start at 5 p.m. with no differential rate in summer and winter rates.

User-pay parking has been a controversial proposition since it was first implemented in June of 2010. Various businesses have expressed that pay parking has had a detrimental impact on their volumes because fewer people parking in the lots has meant less traffic to the Village.

Survey numbers from Whistler Blackcomb have shown that local and regional skier numbers are the same or better than last year, even though fewer cars are parked in pay parking lots. Previously Mountain spokespeople have stated that pay parking means that staff are now parking in the free lots and that the numbers of cars parked has remained pretty constant though the distribution has changed. They have also pointed to the economy as a major reason Village business is suffering rather than laying it all at the feet of pay parking.

Pay parking came after ownership of Day Lots 1 through 5 was transferred from the Province of British Columbia to the Resort Municipality of Whistler in 2008 as part of a larger 2010 Land Legacy Agreement.

The arrangement was conditional on the municipality entering a management agreement with respect to Lots 1 through 5 with Whistler Blackcomb; committing that Lots 1 through 5 would primarily be for the use of Whistler Blackcomb visitors; and constructing a debris barrier on Fitzsimmons Creek to protect Whistler Village from potential floods.

Revenues from pay parking are expected to cover capital and operating costs associated with the Day Lots, repay the cost of improvements in the Day Lots and the cost of the debris barrier. Beyond that, revenues are expected to go towards supporting community transportation initiatives such as transit.

Revenues, however, have come in lower than expected and the municipality has not been able to devote the money to the transit initiatives it hoped to.

Jay DeWitt, district manager for Metropolitan Theatres, which owns the Whistler Village 8 Cinemas, said the proposal for free evening parking in Day Lots 4 and 5 was a "tiny consolation."

"If there's going to be pay parking in Lots 4 and 5, which I definitely can say our company's against, at least having the evenings available is a tiny consolation," he said. "In the big scheme of things, I still think from our perspective, there needs to be free parking available.

"We're one of the few businesses where you have to pay twice. You have to pay at the box office and you've got to pay at the concession. So having to pay for parking, then you've got to go to the box office, and then you're at the concession. By the time you're there, you're so upset you've spent all this money that you're not going to spend it (with us).

"That's an impact on us for sure."

(with files from Clare Ogilvie)