To park or not to park

Dear Editor: In recent months, the City of Penticton has presented parking problems and some possible solutions to them. To be more definitive, let me detail what these “parking problems” are.

First, there is the ongoing TrioCity/Skaha Lake parking problem with the commercialization agreement of Skaha Park itself. Then there is the other parking problem and that is the addition of metered parking in specified areas of the city to fatten the coffers of the city. Talk about irony!

This city is known as a tourist mecca. It has been for as long as I can remember (and I grew up in the area.) The seasons attract tourists, mainly in the spring and summer, however, winter brings in tourists as well.

Why do tourists come here, you might ask? Is it because of the climate, the hospitality, friends and relatives here or the amenities. It seems to be a combination of things.

The city parks fronted by lakes seem to draw people to our city. There is only one other place in the world that has a town sandwiched between two lakes. Can you imagine that? That town is located in Switzerland. It is called Interlaken ( between the lakes). It is a gateway to other parts of the country and a hub of tourist activity. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It has remained in its natural state for many, many years and tourists visit in droves.

Our city, similarly, brings tourists in to avail themselves of the aforementioned attributes. They come to enjoy our hospitality, our wines and wineries, our ideal climate and, of course our lakes and beautiful parks.

COP has seen fit to try to alter one of our major tourist/local resident attractions through commercialization. This action has caused some angst with some of the electorate. Notice, I say some of the electorate. It would appear that many citizens, by their lack of comment, seem to feel that this is an okay move on COP’s part. Yet, there are others who are vehemently opposed to this development. Ask yourself, “Where do I stand on this issue?”

The other parking issue is one of vehicle location. Soon visitors and locals alike will be faced with paying to visit some of these areas so that the coffers of COP will benefit. If one were to analyze this, one might liken it to having to pay to visit a business or store to make a purchase.

It might be deemed as a penalty for patronizing local businesses that you visit to purchase needed goods and services. So much for COP’s slogan of “We’re out for business!” However, tourists and locals alike may have to pay to use the parks because of commercialization. Ron Barillaro Penticton