IN THE RED IN WHITE ROCK
Seaside eateries struggling
It used to be one of Metro Vancouver’s top seaside destinations.
But now a walk along the seafront in White Rock reveals a business community in danger of becoming a “ghost town,” according to one of the area’s restaurateurs.
“At least four or five restaurants have closed in the past three months. They didn’t survive the winter,” said Preet Grewal, managing partner at Charlie Don’t Surf, where a $12 plate of fish and chips has been the biggest seller since 1985. “People say the closures will provide more customers for our business, but we’re getting a reputation for being a bit of a ghost town. I’m scared that the vacancies will hurt all of White Rock. We used to be a destination in the ’80s and ’90s but we fell off the radar a little bit.”
In one central stretch of Marine Drive, near the city’s museum, three restaurants have closed for good, two storefronts are available for rent and four shops are not open for business.
The Pearl Bistro and Oyster Bar, open since 2004, was the latest eatery to close this week, prompting questions why this winter has been worse for business than others.
Grewal said council could do more to help.
“Parking is a big one. In the summer tourists are going to come, but in winter the lots are empty. It’s not the money so much ... but if customers get a ticket, they aren’t coming back. It hurts us,” Grewal said.
Some rules are petty, he added: “I put up a sandwich board which wasn’t in anybody’s way. I was told I’d be fined if it didn’t come down.”
White Rock spokeswoman Farnaz Farrokhi said knowing why businesses are closing is a “good question.”
“The economics committee is looking into it,” she said. “In the meantime, the city is injecting capital funds into a (waterfront) park to create a more inviting environment so more people will visit.”
A total of $5 million is being invested to build a waterfront parking garage for 300 vehicles. White Rock Business Improvement As- sociation president Ernie Klassen cited “astronomical” rents and pay parking as contributing to the area’s decline.
Klassen would like to see free parking implemented for a few months, “so we could see if it makes a difference or not.”
Former White Rock council candidate Dennis Lypka, who moved to South Surrey in 2016, believes Marine Drive might do better if White Rock merged with Surrey.
Lypka argued that there’d be a lot more resources and staff available in a larger city. “I don’t see similar problems in Ocean Park or Crescent Beach in Surrey,” he said.