Dear Members,

 

On January 21st the city finally sent us details about the paid parking pilot. We have posted that letter to our website so that you have the full information available to us. The key piece of information is that starting Feb 16th PIBC members will pay $3.50/hr to park and we do not get the 3 hours free parking that users of the main Hillcrest facility will receive.

On Friday Jan 23rd I met with the Executive Director of Vancouver Phoenix Gymnastics club to discuss the impact of this decision on both of our clubs. Our board met on Sunday Jan 25th to discuss what steps we can take to appeal our exclusion from the 3 hrs free parking offered to those who use Hillcrest Community Centre. Below I list the actions we have decided to take.

Board Actions:

• The President has written to Jordan Lypkie, the project lead on the paid parking pilot, to request a meeting, to seek clarification about the subsidized monthly parking pass, and to ask for the information that volunteers will need to submit if we opt to seek parking passes. The email also reminded Mr. Lypkie that we lease space from the city in a city owned building, just as the amateur sports group do in the Hillcrest Community Centre and ask why we are being treated differently.

• The President will write letters to Mayor Sim and Vancouver Parks Board Chair Laura Christenson asking for their support in our appeal of our exclusion from the 3 hrs free parking.

• We will work with VPG and other users of Riley Park to pressure for changes in the paid parking pilot.

 

Member Actions:
City decision making relies, at least in part, on feedback from citizens, so if each member takes the time to do at least one of these actions we may shift the policy to include us in the free parking for community centre users.

• The city is inviting feedback on this paid parking pilot. Mr. Lypkie’s letter said that “Users can provide feedback by calling 3-1-1 or through Vancouver.ca/311.” Please call and/or use the online 311 contact to express your opinion about having to pay for parking when those going to swim, skate, curl, or use the gym or library at Hillcrest Centre don’t. Make your voice count by telling them what impact paid parking will have on you.

• Write, email, or call Mayor Sim’s office and Parks Board Chair Laura Christensen. Tell them the impact this decision is having on you and ask for the decision to exclude PIBC and VPG from the 3 hours free parking be reversed.

 

Mayor  Ken Sim can be reached at:

ken.sim@vancouver.ca

3rd Floor, City Hall
453 West 12th Ave
Vancouver, BC V5Y 1V4
Phone (604) 873-7621
Fax (604) 873-7685

 

Parks Board Chair Laura Christensen can be reached at:
Laura.Christensen@vancouver.ca
Vancouver Board of Parks & Recreation

2099 Beach Ave
Vancouver, BC V6G 1Z4

 

Below you will find a draft of message that you can use for your letters/emails to the Mayor and Parks Board chair if you would like to - but please add your own comments so that it doesn't look like everyone is sending in the same letter!

• If you have media contacts, please reach out to them to let them know what is happening. Let me know if you are doing this so that we have a list of who is contacted.

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Subsidized Parking Passes:
For the many volunteers who keep our doors open and our programs running, the city has offered us subsidized parking passes. The Board has agreed that we will submit a list of volunteers for the subsidized parking pass, and we understand that this information will be given to Easy Park who will manage the subsidized parking passes.

In the email I sent to Mr. Lypkie, I have asked for additional details about these passes which I will share with you when I get it.

To be ready to submit names promptly, here is what we need from you:

• If you are currently volunteering for the club and would like to be on the list for a subsidized parking pass, please send your name and your volunteer role(s) to me: president@pacificindoor.com.

• If you plan to volunteer in an upcoming event – school group programs, provincial indoors in March/April, spring or summer or fall monitors or league convenors, PCO or Canadian Qualifiers and so on – please send your name and your volunteer role(s) to me: president@pacificindoor.com.

 

Paid parking will affect your budget, and although we are working to change the city’s decision, it is unlikely to be reversed by February 16th.  We encourage members to look at alternate ways of getting to the club – walk, cycle, transit or carpool with other members.

None of us are happy about the city’s decision but if all of us work together to put pressure on the city and parks board, we may get them to reverse the decision to exclude us from the free 3 hr. parking.

best
Mary Ann

 

Sample Letter

 

To members: This is a template to get you started on your letter/email – please add your own specific concerns in the section below that says my concerns are reminder: Mayor Ken Sim email: ken.sim@vancouver.ca and Parks Board Chair Laura Christensen email: Laura.Christensen@vancouver.ca

Please take the time to call or write in the next few days!

Subject: Paid Parking in Riley Park

Dear Mayor Sim [or Parks Board Chair Laura Christensen],

I am member of the Pacific Indoor Lawn Bowls Club, which is a non-profit amateur sports club that leases space in the Millennium Sports Facility in Riley Park. The Parks Board is launching a paid parking pilot program in mid-February at Riley Park. PIBC members are being denied the 3 hrs of free parking allocated to the adjacent Hillcrest Community Centre users.

I don’t understand why we must pay for parking when people who come to swim, skate, curl or use the library in HCC don’t have to. Just like patrons of the Hillcrest Community Centre, we are based in a city owned building. In fact, we partnered with Vancouver Phoenix Gymnastics club in the early 2000s to raise $5 million to build the facility which we then turned over to the city and now lease space in.

[My concerns are – be specific here – are you concerned about not being able to bowl as much/at all because of the cost of parking? Will bowling less often/not at all at PIBC affect your health and wellbeing? Are you concerned that seniors are being treated with less respect or consideration than younger people? Make this section yours!]

We are asking for equitable treatment and need your help to overturn this decision to require our club members who are mostly seniors to pay for parking at a facility that we provided the funding to build in the first place.

Thank you for your time and for your service to our community.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your phone or email]