Paying for the Privilege of the Beach

Spanish Banks was last beach in Vancouver with free parking

Summer is just around the corner, but to enjoy the beach at Spanish Banks, it's going to cost more to park there.

The Vancouver Park Board passed a motion go make paid parking a permanent fixture at the west side beach -- and to raise the rate to C$1.50 per hour from C$1 per hour.

The motion came about after the pilot project, which ran from July 2024 to May 2025, and brought in C$168,000 in revenue.

Permanent parking fee at C$1.50 an hour now

But not everyone is happy, because when the pilot was implemented last year, a petition collected over 4,000 signatures.

Spanish Banks was the last beach in Vancouver to have free parking, but it looks like the city is anxious to make as much money as possible.

Jas Virdi was one of two park board commissioners who voted against the motion.

"This was that one last place in Vancouver that everyone could enjoy," he said during the meeting. "It was very low barrier, it was a place for families to come out and enjoy it for free. And there's not much that's free for children and our seniors these days."

But Commissioner Tom Digby defended the motion, saying maintaining public spaces comes at a cost.

"I have to emphasise, it's so expensive to run any park," he said. "We have spent C$1 million last year putting in a water pipeline so Spanish Banks west could have flush toilets and have showers."

This may deter people from coming to the beach

It's also a way to stop people from parking their cars overnight, as some homeless people who live in their cars have done before the parking pilot last year.

It's a tough call, but surely the rate could be a bit cheaper? As a child I remember we enjoyed spending time at the beach from the early afternoon until early evening, several hours making sandcastles, wandering by the water's edge looking for shells, and eating food we brought in coolers before going home. 

Parking will now be an added cost that could deter people from coming, or stay for a shorter time. It's also sad when you remember how things used to be before, and how times have changed. 

The city is going through an adjustment period with so much construction, roadworks and now metered parking installed everywhere. For long-time Vancouverites, it's an adjustment that can be hard to adapt to.