A group of business owners on the north side of Clarke Street in Port Moody says customers and staff are feeling the heat from residents on the south side of the street trying to guard curbside parking in front of their homes.
But the city is planning to change parking regulations in the area, possibly eliminating the problem.
Lisa Beecroft of Gabi and Jules bakery said residents have come into some of the businesses, which also include a restaurant, aesthetics studio and a martial arts gym, demanding staff get customers to move their vehicles.
While the south side of Clarke Street, from 2301 to 2325, is designated with signs for residents-only parking, Beecroft said that should change and, on Tuesday, she made her case on behalf of the businesses on the north side of the street to city council’s committee of the whole.
She also presented a petition signed by owners of 11 businesses asking the city to install a pedestrian crosswalk at Elgin Street to make it safer for customers trying to get to those businesses (currently, there is no crosswalk between the lights at Douglas Street and the pedestrian-activated crossing at Queens Street).
Beecroft said bringing parking regulations along the short stretch of Clarke Street’s south side in line with the rest of the neighbourhood, which has a three-hour time limit, would go a long way to easing tensions.
According to Port Moody’s manager of communications and engagement, that's exactly what the city plans to do: implementing three-hour residential parking restrictions in all residential areas around SkyTrain stations as part of its Evergreen Extension parking strategy.
Rosemary Lodge also said that part of Clarke Street is one of only three in the city with curbside parking currently designated specifically for residents — the others are the north side of the 1100-block of Cecile Drive and Cecile Place in the Seaview area, and at 640 Alderside Rd., on PoMo's north shore. She said bylaw enforcement officers have issued about 100 tickets on that section of Clarke Street over the past five years, “which is consistent with other areas in Port Moody that have a mix of residential and commercial properties.”
Beecroft said residents and businesses have to find a way to co-exist to create a vibrant community.
“Businesses are contributing to the community,” she said. “We want to create a scenario that makes it welcoming.”
