The Editor,
While it is true that the days of free parking throughout Steveston village have set sail, there is a misconception that the Steveston Merchants Association (SMA) played a role in bringing about this change.
In fact, the SMA was adamantly against pay parking, which the City of Richmond was perilously close to installing throughout the village this summer.
In the spring, the SMA heard from many residents and merchants as we lobbied on behalf of the community to stop metered parking. The SMA's board of directors spoke to other communities which have been adversely impacted by pay parking.
We determined that local shopping, dining and services would be severely jeopardized if full scale pay parking was implemented. The SMA insisted free street parking be preserved for the convenience of local customers who are the lifeblood of this community.
While we are deeply grateful for being a destination for visitors, it is our residents who support us year round.
Working cooperatively with other local non-profit groups, the SMA approached the city and a compromise was reached. This short term experiment, which the city will assess in late September, has, for the most part, been a success.
We look forward to working with the city, non-profit groups, and merchants to discuss the future of parking in Steveston.
We have heard from many merchants who have some great ideas about how to improve the current parking plan. It is the goal of the SMA to make parking a non-issue (as much as possible) for the merchants, their staff and, most importantly, their customers.
While some employees have had to rethink their daily parking strategies, the SMA has heard few complaints from the public other than tickets being issued for standard parking violations.
Free parking remains on the streets, and yes, you do have to respect the two hour limits, or you will face a ticket. If you plan on staying for more than two hours, Chatham Street offers three hour limits, or if you plan on staying longer still, there is pay parking.
If you work in Steveston, a couple of parking lots were offering extremely reasonable monthly rates. In addition, there are other options worth exploring, such as taking public transit, car pooling, walking a few extra blocks or cycling to work.
The SMA looks forward to a solution to this problem once and for all.
SMA Board of Directors
