Dennis Krangle opened his auto shop on East Esplanade in North Vancouver more than three decades ago.
Now, for the first time, he’s staring at bagged parking meters outside his doors and wondering whether he — and other shop owners — can afford to stay.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!“We weren’t consulted…it’s already passed and we’re feeling like we’ve got our hands behind our backs,” Krangle told 1130 NewsRadio.
On Wednesday, the city rolled out the first phase of its Curb Access & Parking Plan, introducing paid parking along Lonsdale Avenue, starting in the high-demand area of Lower Lonsdale.
Under the new rules, the first 30 minutes of street parking are free, but drivers must still register at a physical pay station or digitally. After that, 30 minutes costs $1; daytime rates rise to $3 an hour; evenings $2 an hour.
The maximum stay is four hours, with drivers facing fines for overstaying or for not paying.
The city’s goal is to reduce full blocks to about 85 per cent occupancy — creating one or two open spaces per block at any time.
Krangle’s Fight
Krangle Automotive & Transmission sits in a light-industrial zone, where customers leave vehicles for hours, sometimes days.
Not the same turnover as a retailer or cafe.
“They require come-and-go parking in the Lonsdale corridor, which I totally understand,” Krangle said.
“But with [my shop] being light-industrial — commercially zoned — we do not require come-and-go parking as they do for retail sales.”
He estimates the new rates could cost his shop tens of thousands of dollars a year just to park customer cars.
“It would probably end up being about $12,000 to $14,000 per car per year. It’s ridiculous.”
Krangle says that under the presumption, the city will eventually offer some kind of business discount, which, so far, it has not.
Blindsided
Krangle claims he and other business owners weren’t properly informed of the parking changes, saying he only learned about the plan on social media days before the council’s vote in April.
“I tried to rally people, but people aren’t always organised and didn’t think it was going to go through.”
After that, Krangle says he collected 1,400 signatures on a petition and a separate list of 41 business and building owners from the affected two-block area, all opposing the plan.
“They all signed it, saying, ‘We don’t want this, we never knew about it, and we’re in shock.’ And, the city was like, ‘yeah, that doesn’t really matter.'”
Krangle believes the city’s new parking rules may push out some of the very businesses that built East Esplanade.
“And I told the city that. I said, ‘These are all voters too. You have to understand that.'”
City’s response
In a statement, the city says staff have been meeting with business owners, and that the plan follows two years of community engagement.
“City staff have completed additional outreach with businesses in the East Esplanade light-industrial area, as we recognize that over time, some of these businesses have come to rely heavily on public on-street parking as part of their operations.”
“While some businesses in this area have already begun transitioning their operations to utilize off-street parking, we acknowledge others may require more time to do so, and we will continue to communicate with these specific businesses and support them through this period of change to reduce operational reliance on public property.”
The city adds that it will continue to work with local businesses on their parking needs.
“We will consider further adjustments in locations where parking outcomes do not align with the Plan’s policy objectives: (1) Improve reliability; (2) Promote fairness; and (3) Support businesses through improved curbside management.”
Further details on the parking fees can be found at letstalk.cnv.org/curb.