The owners of the parking lot between the Quadra ferry terminal and Robert Ostler Park are tired of ferry traffic and downtown business owners using their parking spaces.
Tanya Pallan, president of Nagra Holdings Ltd., the real estate division of Pallan Group, wrote a letter to city council outlining her concern that people are taking away the only parking available for patrons and owners of the businesses at the Coast Harbour Marina.
“There are numerous small businesses being operated from the marina, namely Dick’s Fish and Chips, Diversafe, Discovery Launch, Adventure Quest Tours and Government of Canada Fisheries and Oceans Coastguard office and vessels,” Pallan wrote. “These businesses employ numerous people and they have customers, both of which require parking on the lot. There can be up to 40 marine vessels docked at the marina and all the owners of these vessels require the use of the parking lot.”
But Pallan said it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to find parking in the 60-stall lot.
“Unfortunately, Quadra ferry patrons and many of the general public, employed in the downtown area, are using this lot as their private parking domain,” Pallan wrote.
“The tenants of our marina buildings, their customers and our customers that dock their vessels at the marina, are being forced out of being able to park on this property.”
Derik Pallan, president of Pallan Group, said since his company bought the lot from the Coast Discovery Hotel two years, business down at the marina has grown and demand for parking has doubled.
“We’re needing that space for our own clientele and the reason for that is simply growth. We also have expansion plans for the marina,” Derik Pallan said. “We have people trying to park their boats at the marina who are saying they’re going to use a different marina because they can’t find parking.”
While Pallan said the land is “a fee simple property” owned by Nagra Holdings which pays city property taxes on the land, the province designated the parcel of land as a public parking site in 1971.
Pallan is asking that the city of Campbell River help the company with a request to the B.C. government to have the public parking designation removed.
“There may have been a time when the public parking designation was necessary, but this is now fee simple private property, on which we are assessed property taxes,” Pallan said. “It is inherently discriminatory and unfair that free public parking should be allowed on private fee simple land holdings.”
Derik Pallan said he’s hoping to work with the city to resolve the issue.
“People are complaining. It’s really affecting business is what it comes down to,” he said. “We need the city’s assistance to have the parking lot go from free public parking to reserved private parking so our clientele can use their own parking lot.”
City council was expected to review Pallan’s letter at its Tuesday evening meeting, after the Mirror went to press.