Squamish may be seeing a sign of things to come, as the town's first paid parking lot was established at Second Avenue and Victoria Street.
The business venture was undertaken by Chieftain Hotel owners in an attempt to bolster income and take advantage of anticipated influx of vehicles in 2010.
The parking lot, reserved for hotel guests but used by residents for more than 20 years, began charging money on Sept. 1 this year.
The hotel saw a business opportunity knowing there would be a crunch of parking space in Whistler during the Olympics, said Mel Espadilla, the general manager of the Chieftain Hotel.
"There won't be parking available in Whistler and people will just have to park in Squamish. We're thinking ahead," he said.
Residents driving to Whistler during the Olympics will need a permit to pass a traffic checkpoint during peak hours, VANOC announced in July.
VANOC will issue permits to two vehicles per Squamish household, and a separate localized vehicle permit will be required for residents doing business in Whistler.
Espadilla said there might be a scramble for free parking spots at the time of Olympics, and the hotel parking will be a "planned parking place."
The hotel also wanted to prevent unwanted intruders taking over the parking spaces, he said.
"This is an opportunity for us to control illegal parking. There are some people who park their cars here and then let them stay there for months," he said.
He said hotel workers monitor the 50 parking spots twice a day, and there would be hourly checks in the future.
On Thursday afternoon (Sept. 10), one lone car stood in the paid lot while cars lined the road next to it.
The idea of paid parking in town struck some as a natural course of action, whereas others felt it was "ridiculous."
Krista Dutton, who works as a household cleaner, said her job often brings her to downtown Squamish and she said most of the time she gets a parking spot near her work. If not, she searches around.
She said she isn't paying for parking, and certainly not in Squamish.
"It's a small community and I think it just doesn't work here. One of the things that annoys me about Vancouver is how much expensive the parking meters are. In Squamish, I'd rather search for a free spot than pay," she said.
Mary Reed, who works at the Squamish Medical Clinic, said she and her co-workers parked in the hotel parking lot for more than 20 years. She said she had no problems with the paid parking space in town.
"They let us park here for 20 years and they were pretty courteous in letting us know that this [free parking] had changed," she said.
