https://talktofino.ca/downtown-pay-parking
According to this , some locals will have to pay while offshore residents will get a free pass. Only one free permit per household. Nobody campaigned on this.
https://talktofino.ca/downtown-pay-parking
According to this , some locals will have to pay while offshore residents will get a free pass. Only one free permit per household. Nobody campaigned on this.
42 comments:
Nothing like being discriminated against for not being First Nation. It is strange that this sort of discrimination seems to be permitted in Canadian Law where every citizen is supposed to be equal. It is time a stop was put to this nonsense.
The offshore parking isn’t based on race . People at Catface , Bedingfield Bay and Cypress Bay get free permits. Basically if you live anywhere but Tofino but use Tofino as a vehicular base , you get a free permit.
So a two car family will have to pay $250 for a second permit but non taxpaying millionaires from Vargas Island, Hot Springs Cove and Wickaninnish Island will get free permits. That’s really putting families first !!
Correct Ralph.
It is putting Tofitians last........Seems like the whole idea of Tofino as a town, a place where people actually live, is evaporating. We are merely an extension of the tourist industry. There wouldn't be any problem if we were a town that manufactured "widgets". but we are not. We are a town almost wholly dependent on tourism. and no matter how you spin it, that is driving the bus.....There is no big parking problem in the "off season" (a euphemism for when the tourists are not so evident). but the summers are packed out. so.......YOU...ya you... the small minority of people who live here and are maybe just trying to buy a bag of groceries..... you locals........you keep paying and paying to keep this thing afloat. Affordable housing......... you pay....Property taxes to support a clutch of plump bureaucrats maintaining the "world destination image", you pay,... and on and on.... now parking...more water is next..... you /we are the suckers.......and the leadership of this town just doesn't get it.....and isn't doing a damn thing about it.
So I decided to express my thoughts to the DOT and tried to register at "Talk Tofino". The website refuses to accept my postal code, won't let me in. I've tried multiple times, no success. I don't even get the opportunity to point out the obvious failings in this plan.
One more thing dreamed up by DOT office staff, that doesn't work.
Email addresses are online if you wish to reach out to anyone in the district directly. Just bypass the talk Tofino thing if it isn't working
Take the first initiative District staff, Mayor & council member’s, it will Free up the parking spaces at the District office to monetize on the profit grabbing parking schemes……when you talk the talk walk the walk.
I guess we’ll see DOT staff lead by example and Ride their tricycle, skip to work, car pool or take the Bus.
Get out of your single occupancy vehicle and into other forms of transportation.
From Westerly News Article April 5th
******Rodgers said paid parking expands municipal revenue sources and incentivizes and emphasizes a quick transition to alternate and sustainable modes of transportation.
“The idea of this is to ensure we have availability of parking spaces, so by pricing spaces we expect to see turnover, meaning there will be open spaces for people to park in,” he said, reiterating another goal is “to get people out of their single occupancy vehicles and into other forms of transportation particularly our seasonal shuttle and cycling.”
End offshore parking. The virtue signalling of the district and council has to end. people are tired of the BS Coming out of the DOT
Rodgers, the szar of "sustainability", The whole point of freeing up parking spaces is to make room for the tourists. The tourist who drive to Tofino to save the environment. We are outnumbered 20 to 1 but somehow we are the problem.... Ha Ha what a joke. When the majority of tourists start taking the bus to get here I will pay more attention to what he has to say. He has been sustaining the community for decades and everything about living here is going down hill.....
single occupancy vehicles???? That is the problem???? problem is bureaucrats with one brain cell.
My Fred works hard and needs his vehicle for work. It was a God Send when he got the old Mazda going so I could do the shopping or go visit my friends in town. That little car was liberating for me as a wife, mother, and woman. So I tells Fred I may not be able to do the shopping or check the mail anymore. Best he does it at the end of the day, on his way home......My Freddy says he may not get past pub, they want his business and so far the parking is free. Way to go DOT......home wreckers.
The offshore parking should all be paid parking. Parking as the district points out isn’t free so why are we giving it away? There are options for parking for offshore vehicles that are not on the streets that once they establish it would not cost them or the district. The town is becoming strangled by all the offshore vehicles and they need to be off the streets. The current pay parking scheme does nothing to solve the real problem of vehicles plugging the streets.
What happens when a couple of hundred more offshore vehicles want to park on our streets for free?
Good insights 8:21 It was 25-30 years ago the the old Tofino Business Association proposed a parkade inside the first street Dock. Offered to do it for free for the town and give it over for First Nations parking, as I remember. But never got the support of the DOT. A nice triple decker would pretty much solve the current problem. At the time there was rock and fill for free.....the old PNG created a huge space for their processing plant, As did Creative Salmon. Got the fill for free as they were dredging the harbour channel. at the time...lost opportunity and no foresight by the Dot.
What do we have today???? lost opportunities and no foresight. So now we have a million tourists coming and more Offshore parking needs. And for thirty years they never planned to deal with the very limited space of the narrow little penninsula we live on.....Poor show DOT. Maybe we need to move some business activity and parking demand out of the few square blocks that is old Tofino Core. Maybe some people don't like that idea
Maybe the new Hospitality Association, that apparently wants to make a difference, could step up....pick up the mantle laid down by the old TBA, so to speak, and do something real for the town....We obviously can't rely on the DOT
5:51 and 8:21 agree that something should be done. Not only are we giving away the offshore street parking for free we are also losing the revenue stream of having it hourly paid parking for visitors. It is double jeopardy for the residents. Tourists can't drive into town and park and the businesses suffer from a lack of customers and the town still has to maintain the on street parking spaces at taxpayers expense
"Offshore Parking"? No it isn't. It's actually free long term vehicle storage. At the expense of the taxpayers. Some of those vehicles sit there for weeks, even months, without moving. There was one that sat, with flat tires, by the Fred Tibbs condos for almost a year!
At the very least, those "offshore" spaces should be routinely monitored and some resonable restrictions enforced to prohibit this type of abuse and neglect.
Go downtown at midnight in December and we still have a parking problem. The elephant in the room is offshore parking. Tofino has an offshore parking problem and now DOT wants to offer free parking? Start with addressing the offshore issue and work from there. The DOT proposal appears to be a money grab not a solution to the problem IMO.
DOT doesn't want any comments on Offshore parking. Really? This is your new democracy. Welcome to Animal Farm.
'Four legs good.......two legs bad'.... till the pigs started wearing the Farmers clothes and walking around on two legs.
Then it was 'Four legs good... two legs better'.
Just pay up and shut up.......What a disgrace.
Hey DOT,,,,,OINK,OINK OINK
Thanks for Ralph's Blog
Perhaps the district could solve the offshore parking by taking away 100 parking spaces a year. Until something is done, the problem will not be considered a problem by those offshore. In two years time we'd have 200 more spots in town. The offshore can build their own lots and there's space available in town but will only do it if forced to. Those offshore may even figure out it is cheaper to rent a car when needed than own one that is parked for months at a time rusting, depreciating and paying for unused insurance.
It is time to free up on street parking for local business customers.
Article from Westerly News April.5
“Law added that residents should understand that “parking has never been free.”
“It’s paid for by taxpayers and grants. That’s something I always remind myself. Nothing we see is free, it’s always been paid for by somebody. This is a way of putting the cost of that infrastructure onto the people who use it,” he said.”
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What a joke, just a bunch of word salad.
Mayor Dan Law, do you even know what your saying, your words are contradicting.
Every year there are 350+ FREE permits handed out to offshore residents that don’t pay Property Tax in Tofino.
Are they not people who use it?
Mayor Law, Think about what you are saying. If parking has never been free. It follows the taxpayers of Tofino were and are paying for it. Someone gives up land through subdivision, someone pays for creating a road way, and paving and the District charges us tax payers to manage parking on Public Rght of Way. When was it ever someone other than primarily the people of Tofino who paid. DOT gets grants through RMI to do make overs...basically landscaping. We get that money because the Province is raking in revenues from Tofino and they want more.
You want to charge for parking.....to raise money for your good deeds....fine, but don't bullshit us about it. Start with the truth.
This is the link to read the full parking story in the westerly news.
https://www.pqbnews.com/news/parking-fees-headed-to-downtown-tofino/
Mayor Dan trying to gaslight the citizens. Tofitians are not paying their fair share in regard to parking....Tofitians are the ones who have been paying. Some of the highest taxes in the province. where does all the money go.
And on the environment Millions...how many? tourist. plus off shores. but it is only families with more than one vehicle, who live in Tofino and commute...what?... 10 KMa day who are to be held accountable to the environmental fever dreams of the Council and Staff. This is not good management. This is guilt shaming in an effort to manipulate.
agree with 6;04. Tofino only gets back a small fraction of the revenues it sends to the Province...There is no free money from the province. So called grants from the Province are coming from much larger sums we send them.
The town administrators are not dealing with THE problem of offshore parking. Nothing will be achieved by any form of timed or pay parking in Tofino if the offshore car parking problem is not removed from the streets. They have banned comments about off shore parking on TalkTofino.ca
fill in the area between the main government dock and the kayak launch area. the tribal park guardians will look after it.
The taxpayers and residents of Tofino are NEVER listened to by administration.
Almost unanimous opposition to Josie's 53% tax increases.....it was approved anyhow.
Almost unanimous opposition to the development for DL114 Catalyst..it was approved anyhow.
Almost unaminous opposition to giving away parkland to THC Creekside....it was given away anyhow.
Now, the people want to object to aspects of the parking fiasco..... comments disallowed.
Time to get out the torches and pitchforks?
10:22 AM. Sounds simple, except that the main hydro cables to offshore are buried under there.....not so simple.
Build on steel pilings . Simple.
Main Hydro cables are buried under there...... find me a solution
Bury a duct.... fine the solution
Build more parking now or build it later. Which do you think will be cheaper? You would think the district learned a lesson with affordable housing. We are in a constant state of playing catch up with too much reactive thinking. How about proactive for a change?
That would actually require planning.
Exactly 3:42. 15 years ago the sewage treatment plant was ready to go at 1/3 of the cost it eventually became.
Affordable housing was the same - it was ready to go with slight changes about 2006. The current cost to the district is probably immeasurable. The DOT gifted the catalyst company 50 years worth of guaranteed income and the only thing to show for it is employee housing. No permanent residence just tenants.
There has been a number of suggestions to solve the parking issue the most ludicrous of which is just ride bicycles.
Take the bus.
bicycles is a great idea if you can ride a bicycle and it's a sunny day and you're not carrying anything more than a small sack groceries.
The comments coming in about this subject 1) give me hope Tofino has not expired, but has just been resting. 2) Indicate there is more common sense in the public than a gaggle of DOT bureaucrats, 3)council and staff are more concerned about philosophy and optics than the realities of every day life.
Agreement with Ralph that it would require planning AND listening and acting on public input instead of ignoring all contributions and suggestions made to council and in their public input sessions that are only used to comply with community charter rules. We might be better off without the district planning/management people running this town.
I see this problem a little differently...I see the current proposal as an act of cowardice and really if you think about it, it is well.....racist. Council seems to have determined they can't pursue any purposeful discussions with local First Nations. They won't even allow any public discussions on the subject on the District programme. They are obviously gripped by fear. Or they consider anything that Tofitians might say as as inappropriate. This is such a regressive perspective and rife with stereotyping of their own community as well as First Nations.
,They are afraid of the reaction they may get from First Nations. Would there be protest, or blockades? These fears must be based on the assumption that First Nations are a singular voice without any rationality. Would we treat any other political or legal entity in similar fashion. Why not start a dialogue on solving our joint and collective problems and move forward in the spirit of partnership, to solve our collective problems. Parking is just one. Water is an obvious second.
To consider First Nations incapable or unwilling of discussing matters to our, their, and both of our benefit is not just dumb, it suggests we don't believe the other is capable of acting to our mutual benefit or their own benefit. You may get a different response than what you anticipate And besides it is the proper thing to do.
Unfortunately 9:21 the attitude of some 'offshore residents' I have spoken to suggests that they don't give a damn about any parking concerns that Tofino has and that they are frustrated by the lack of it and want more provided for free to them. Perhaps they should get together, pool their money and government grants and build parking for themselves. That way they can control their own lives and stop the complaining.
Do downtown Tofino shop owners even get what's coming to them ?
***
Some articles about the pay parking struggles of Penticton BC business owners.
- Pay parking grinds gears of downtown Penticton merchants
https://globalnews.ca/news/7932442/penticton-downtown-pay-parking/
- New parking meters are driving away customers in downtown Penticton, business owner says
Revenue cut by half since city installed parking meters on Main Street, says chocolatier
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/penticton-downtown-business-parking-meters-1.6060013
- Penticton business owner's plea for end to paid street parking in downtown Penticton
https://www.castanet.net/news/Penticton/399170/Penticton-business-owner-s-plea-for-end-to-paid-street-parking-in-downtown-reaches-councillor
Unfortunately 7:30 many Tofino residents express a similar view toward pay parking, as the views expressed by your sources, but the views of Tofino Residents have been rejected while they are vilified as radical redneck extremists When does the bullshit ever stop and Tofino solves a problem rather than make it worse and thereby assist in pitting one side against the other. They, The DOT, don't respect there own citizens.
When the District decided to give to the Tribal Parks initiative water revenues paid by the water users of Tofino , Those opposed were branded as racists..... it came to councils attention that it would be illegal according to Provincial statute to misappropriate such water user fees in such a manner. but the branding continues.
With all the name calling most normal people just give up, unfortunately leaving the field wide open for the most radical to screw everything up royal and the reasonable views of most folks to be discounted.
The need for statesmanship was never more apparent, but it is clear all sides seems thrive on conflict and only the small minded ascend to power.
An immediate but temporary solution is to limit offshore parking to a certain time limit, say one week , and if the vehicle hasn't moved it gets towed.....to another site say up industrial way where it can be retrieved when it is to be used. Real longterm parking can only take place in designated long term sites. OK hit me.
Re 10:56 AM. Westerly News poll shows 77% against the parking proposal. This blog shows a huge majority against the proposal. (Why is it called a "proposal"? Looks like the decision has already been made, despite the opposition from the residents) I'll bet that the signs have already been ordered!!
Will mayor and council have the backbone to stand up against staff and shoot down this misguided and unjust fiasco? Probably not. They'll just "stand in lockstep while staring at the flourescent lights" and vote "Well, we don't really have a choice".
Nothing changes.
Re 10:56 AM. Westerly News poll shows 77% against the parking proposal. This blog shows a huge majority against the proposal. (Why is it called a "proposal"? Looks like the decision has already been made, despite the opposition from the residents) I'll bet that the signs have already been ordered!!
Will mayor and council have the backbone to stand up against staff and shoot down this misguided and unjust fiasco? Probably not. They'll just "stand in lockstep while staring at the flourescent lights" and vote "Well, we don't really have a choice".
Nothing changes.
All this seems to be a formality.
Contracts with Robbins Parking appear to be signed already!
If Mayor and Council vote against Staff plans, THERE WILL BE HUGE FINES FOR BREACH OF CONTRACT.
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