White Rock resident Kevin Costello might have received more attention than he anticipated when he brought his street-parking concerns to Peace Arch News last month, yet it should become evident to all that his issue is a growing concern in a growing community.
Costello’s focus is on Best Street where he lives. He noticed street parking is increasingly occupied by staff at nearby Peace Arch Hospital, who are also provided pay-parking options by Fraser Health. It should be noted, that he has discovered that the problem is not limited to hospital staff – but commuters, as well – and that he doesn’t blame the staff themselves for trying to save money.
So Costello set out to gather signatures for a petition to urge the city to limit street parking on Best to resident-only.
An article published in PAN one week ago resulted in more calls than Costello was prepared to handle, from people with concerns for not only Best Street, but those on the other side of the hospital, as well as north into Surrey.
Even CBC News got involved, sending a team to meet with Costello Friday at a media event that attracted residents with other criticisms of decisions emanating this past term of office from White Rock city hall, as well as comments from Coun. Helen Fathers, who noted that residential parking is a concern across the entire east side of White Rock.
We’re guessing that with all of the residential development in pockets of Surrey and other neighbouring communities across Metro Vancouver – not to mention the number of coach houses and secondary suites, both registered and not – this issue is not limited to tiny residential White Rock.
Whether limiting Best Street to resident-only would solve Costello’s issue, we’ll leave to White Rock civic leaders. However, it would behoove other governments to get ahead of this issue to ensure our roadways and parking areas across Metro Vancouver can handle our growing communities.