A daily parking fee is in the works for Grant Narrows and the Pitt-Addington Marsh Wildlife Management Area.
Pitt Meadows resident Larry Cowan recently discovered signs put up by the Katzie First Nation in the area announcing a $5 fee per day starting May 17.
“It’s expensive enough to do stuff these days. And $5 is not a small amount. A lot of people, like myself, I’ll go up there for maybe 15 to 20 minutes. I’m going to pay five bucks every time I do that? I don’t think so,” he said.
Cowan said he can understand implementing an overnight parking fee or a boat launch fee, but a daily parking fee is just not right. And, he wonders whether the Nation needs government approval to institute a parking fee since the land is owned by the province.
However, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship, said the province is not responsible for parking fees.
“KDLP, as the tenure holder, is responsible for the day to day operations and management of the site, including decisions on parking,” said the ministry, about the Katzie Development Limited Partnership, (KDLP), a Katzie First Nation-owned and operated economic development firm, who just signed an agreement lease in January 2023, agreeing to manage the site again.
The province spent years searching for a manager of, what the Ministry of Forests calls the “vacant crown lands at Grant Narrows” at the north end of Rannie Road in Pitt Meadows.
Katzie First Nation were the site operators from 2011 until May 2020, when they quit, citing liability issues with the docks in the park which they described as unstable and in a state of disrepair.
The KDLP agreed to manage the site again after the province agreed to a number of conditions including:
• All unsafe provincially-owned infrastructure to be removed by the province to ensure there is no legal risk to the Katzie First Nation or the KDLP, by signing a lease to resume commercial activities at Grant Narrows;
• A long-term lease to be jointly developed for the upland and water lot portions of the property to ensure that the First Nation will be able to manage the site for the long term and fully develop the property to meet the needs of Katzie’s members and local residents;
• And for the province to support Katzie in acquiring the funds needed to replace existing unsafe infrastructure and prepare the site for renewed commercial activity.
In July 2021, the province put up signs advising boaters the docks were closed due to safety concerns, and to remove all moored boats. By the end of 2022, two dilapidated docks were removed.
READ MORE: Operators for Grant Narrows area in Pitt Meadows found
And in May 2023, Katzie First Nation received $682,500 from the federal government to upgrade the marina.
Cowan wrote a letter to Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Lisa Beare telling her what a shock it was to discover this parking fee was coming.
“This fee will come as a great shock to the multitude of people (myself included) using the area to walk their dogs or spend an hour or so relaxing away from the hustle and bustle of the world. On a hot summers eve it is a great place to escape the heat for an hour or so,” wrote Cowan, explaining that he used to lead Nature Vancouver birding field trips at Grant Narrows from 2007 to 2019 each June, some years adding a second trip in the fall, which brought more than 300 visitors to the area.
During one of these field trips in 2011, he discovered a daily parking fee was going to be instituted and he disputed the charge with the local MLA at that time and it was rescinded. He is hoping the same will happen again.
ALSO: Upgrades planned for Grant Narrows Marina in Pitt Meadows
Cowan said he has talked to other people who told him they are planning to park outside the gate to the area and walk in.
“It costs us enough money to do things these days and when you put a price on enjoying nature, I don’t enjoy that myself,” he said.
Katzie First Nation has not yet answered questions from The News regarding upgrades to the area, including the new parking fee.
The City of Pitt Meadows told The News the Grant Narrows boat launch is outside of the city’s jurisdiction.
The Pitt-Addington Wildlife Management Area, (WMA), is managed by the South Coast Conservation Land Management Program, that works closely with the KDLP to ensure ongoing coordination in the management of both the WMA and infrastructure, including the parking lot, gates and boat launch.
