A parking meter at the ready

The fancy new parking meter for Rushbrook Floats is all set for action; all that seems to be required now is an idea as to how far the reach of the cash machine will be. City council has yet to decide if pay parking will stretch beyond the Rushbrook parking lot and up George Hills Way.

The rush to get things organized is on because the high numbers of out of town boaters are soon to arrive on the North coast for another season, leaving their trucks and trailers along the east side roads around Rushbrook and Canadian Fish.

It’s a controversial decision to be made, with a couple of large fish plants in the area, there could be a high number of shoreworkers caught up in the middle of the City’s parking bounty.

The issue was provided with some good coverage on Friday in the Daily News.

Spectre of parking meters prompts questions
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, May 18, 2007
Page one

A parking meter has been installed at Rushbrook Floats but the city doesn't seem to know how far down George Hills Way it will be driving pay parking.

The yellow and blue-meter machine made its appearance down at the popular dock and boat launch a few weeks ago but it is not yet operational.

"I have had some inquiries with regards to shoreworkers that work down there, will they have to purchase a pass?" said Coun. Joy Thorkelson.

"And secondly, is there the ability for them to get preferential parking so they can get parking down there?"

She explained that boat trailers take so much room during the busy tourists season and at times, there is not room in the parking lot at the plants.

"They (plant workers) are probably the only people who have to have pay parking to have a parking spot."

Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said he did not know how far the paid parking would extend.
A few weeks ago, city staff and politicians said the meter would only apply to the Rushbrook site itself. However, Douglas Jay, the city's corporate administrator said the latest plan involves putting paid parking all the way down to the Cow Bay bridge.

As a point of clarification, Coun. Tony Briglio noted other people in the city do pay for parking, such as those on Fulton (not that they have been able to access those spots for the past three months because the street has been blocked off for repairs.)

"It is an interesting point that this could mean employees who were previously parking for free may now have to pay for parking," said Pond.

The city has been planning to install pay parking at Rushbrook Floats for several years in order to generate revenue that would in turn be put back into the upkeep of the area.

However, vehicles and boat trailers launching at the site are also parked on George Hills Way during the season for long periods of time. The road is also used by people at the Prince Rupert yacht club.

At the same time, if the city decides to install pay parking all the way down George Hills Way, it would pre-empt the work being done by the city's parking committee and a parking consultant that has been hired to study the city's parking issues.

Thorkelson pointed out that shoreworkers were not too happy about the idea of having to pay for parking to subsidies that would benefit people in the sport fishing industry. City staff are expected to clarify their plans for the use of parking metres at the next city council meeting.