Heights Merchants Urge Burnaby Council to Protect Businesses from Translink Plan to Eliminate Curbside Parking on Hastings St.
For Immediate Release
November 18, 2024
Burnaby, BC – The Heights Merchants Association (HMA) is voicing dismay and disappointment with a TransLink recommendation to Burnaby Council – to remove convenient curbside parking and eliminate 50% of public parking spots that support small businesses on Hastings Street east of Willingdon, and their customers, in favour of a bus-only lane.
The HMA, which represents more than 360 businesses and 180 commercial property owners, is urging Burnaby Council to stand up, represent the community and businesses along the Hastings Street corridor, and oppose a plan, called “Hastings Street Improvement Project” (HISP) that would have a devastating impact on local merchants and on customer accessibility.
The TrankLink recommendation would see access to parking removed on Hastings Street from Willingdon to Duthie, and in its place there will be a Bus Only Lane that will operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.
“Not once has TransLink suggested a desire to us, to remove our desperately needed parking as part of the Hastings Street Improvement Project. But now, in the absence of consultation of this idea or any form of notice to businesses that rely on that parking – they are appearing before Council and dropping this bombshell,” said Isabel Kolic, Executive Director of the Heights Merchants Association.
“In its submission, TransLink suggests a feasibility study showed that a curbside bus lane was the preferred solution. We would ask: Preferred by whom? Again, with no consultation or demonstration of respect for the businesses along Hastings Street that contribute so much to the community and local economy.”
“This is about our community, our local businesses and residents who use our main street daily as part of their daily lives – it’s not only a bus corridor to them. Yet we feel completely unheard and dismissed,” added Kolic.
Various businesses have already spoken to the Heights Merchants Association about how such drastic action would impact them. This includes new business owners who have been caught unaware, a business already struggling because of street construction that has impacted street parking for more than a year, medical clinics serving hundreds of patients, and a funeral home with hundreds of mourners a week, that uses the curb lane as part of their funeral proceedings and moving caskets into hearses.
This part of the corridor is in effect a daily-goods and daily-services district, with grocery stores, insurance agents, hair salons, restaurants, cafes, family services, repair shops, and many medical and dental businesses. As a result, parking in front of street-facing merchants is crucial to maintaining the vibrant urban village and ensuring there is accessibility for all shoppers – including seniors, individuals with disabilities who require front-of-building access, and families with children, whether they are local or from afar.
“The reality is that an Urban Village needs its main street to function. Streetfront businesses are designed to be front facing, not back facing,” continued Kolic. “They’re intended to appeal to the widest range of clientele possible. Not just bus users, but all types of customers, even those with mobility difficulties, or those bringing young children, carrying injured pets, or bringing heavy groceries home.”
Kolic highlights that while nearby shopping centres have the equivalent of 20 parking spaces per business, the Hastings Corridor has two spaces per business. Slashing that by 50% will be a significant challenge for merchants—another blow against the ‘little guy’.
The HMA fully supports improving public transit – but believes bus speed can be improved with bus priority signals, bus-centric curb bulges, better bus frequency and shorter connections with other buses. Devastating the way a community uses its local businesses is not the answer.
The HMA pleads Council to protect the space for community members to use their own urban village with ease, and preserve a functional framework for small street front businesses to serve the community.
“As our elected representatives, we urge Burnaby Council to represent the community and businesses that operate up and down Hastings Street because without strong urban villages serving local communities, not only will customers need to travel farther to find what they need, but the very fabric of our communities may disappear,” concluded Kolic.
Media Contact:
Isabel Kolic, Executive Director
isabel@burnabyheights.com
604-294-9060
