District feels Ambleside parking pain, mulls steps

The District of West Vancouver is working to relieve some of the parking pain the construction at the Grosvenor building and a busy new restaurant underneath has brought to the Ambleside area.

Councillor Bill Soprovich recently raised the issue at a council meeting and urged the officials to find a way to reduce parking problems he said many businesses were facing. He also asked the top city official to talk to Grosvenor about moving their fence to free up more space.

“I have had conversations with businesses around the area and on Bellevue and they are feeling a pinch and it’s a challenge for them and what I heard from a lot of them is their businesses are getting to hurt a bit,” he said. Councillor Craig Cameron also expressed his concern and said there was lot of traffic going up on Bellevue and large pedestrian presence which would increase with summer months.

Soprovich said he would also like engineering department to talk to the Grosvenor Ambleside development about moving their fence to create more space. “They are taking more than half of Belleveue with the container on one side, and they moved their fence out even more. It should be looked at by engineering,” he said.

West Vancouver CEO Nina Leemhuis said she believed the new developments would benefit the entire area in the long run but said the district will make some changes to reduce the parking problems in the area.

The district is mulling over reducing the parking time from two hours to one hour. It is also planning to put more signs that direct residents to parking areas that are underutilized.

“District staff is working closely with the Ambleside Dundarave Business Improvement Association to find solutions that are supported by both parties,” said Donna Powers, West Vancouver communication manager.

Over the course of the summer we will continue to monitor the situation and look for additional ways to improve. One approach will be to look at existing footprints to see if there are any areas that can be reconfigured to add more parking spots,” she said.

Meanwhile, a West Vancouver business man is urging the district to reopen the ‘pilot project’ spirit trail\bike path closure on Argyle, from 13^th to 14^th street. David Jones of Jones and Company Custom Framing says lack of parking is hurting local businesses and he wants the district to be proactive on the issue.

The upcoming closure of the northbound lane of 13^th street from Bellevue to Marine for work for second phase of Grosvenor, the closure of southbound land on 14^th street for sidewalk upgrade and the opening of three more businesses will only exacerbate the problems faced by local businesses, he said.