Annual parking restrictions have returned for Boundary Bay, but at least motorists won’t have to pay for a spot at the beach if they find one.
The Boundary Bay Permit Parking Program is now in place from May 1 to Sept. 8 on weekends and statutory holidays.
There are no changes to the program from last year.
Boundary Bay Regional Park has seen a significant jump in visits, especially since the start of the pandemic, increasing from 923,000 in 2019 to 1.4 million in 2020.
The parking lot at Centennial Beach often exceeds capacity, resulting in spillover traffic entering the Boundary Bay neighbourhood.
It led to a courtesy shuttle being launched from the South Delta Recreation Centre two years ago.
A shuttle schedule for this year is currently being developed.
The City of Delta also initiated a parking permit program on nearby residential streets.
During the weekends and holidays, visitors will have a three-hour limit on parking along 4 Avenue, 3 Avenue, 1A Avenue by the boat launch, and 66 Street south of 1A Avenue. City bylaw staff will once again be actively enforcing the restrictions.
Boundary Bay residents are provided permits to allow them to park on the streets and boulevards without time limitations.
Pay parking, meanwhile, won’t be coming to Centennial Beach, according to the city manager’s office.
Having conducted a public survey, Metro Vancouver last year was looking into the idea of initiating a pay parking program that could have been implemented in time for the 2022 peak season.
In 2021, Metro Vancouver launched full paid parking at Belcarra and Lynn Headwaters, but the Centennial Beach proposal would have been a mixture of reserved and free spots.
Delta currently has a bylaw banning pay parking throughout the city.
That means that not only is there no metered street parking spots, but it’s also prohibited in places where pay parking is the norm in other municipalities, such as Delta Hospital or the Ladner Exchange transit stop.
The move by the city was done years ago to prevent Fraser Health from initiating pay parking at the hospital.
Any proposal to add pay parking would require Delta’s consent.
The city is allowing special event pay parking for this summer’s Boundary Bay Airshow.
