Parking Lot Politics

Parking Lot Politics

Posted on May 19, 2014 at 1:10 PM

The final nail in the coffin, if this DNV parking lot deal goes through, as planned. You can actually view what the arrogance of over-entitlement looks like in the picture of the off-road "wheeled locust" wreckreationalists in  DNV's recent NS News ad, below:

The District is "hot to trot" with this parking lot deal, in order to appease all those whiney off-road mountain bikers who continue to rip and shred the forest floor in sheer numbers! Not only do they want their parking lot, but they want DNV to get rid of the "unfair" Residents' Parking Only zone, that prevents them from convenient parking at a major mountain biking trailhead: Mountain View Park! They want their "cake and icing", too, according to NSMBA's spokesperson (no pun intended), Mark Wood.

http://www.nsnews.com/news/parking-lot-for-mountain-bikers-on-fromme-unveiled-1.1065886

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Parking lot for mountain bikers on Fromme unveiled

Lot to provide staging area for mtn bikers

Jeremy Shepherd / North Shore News
May 18, 2014

A new parking lot on Fromme Mountain is either a belated solution to a parking nightmare or an environmental affront that benefits few, depending on who you believe.

The District of North Vancouver is holding an open house this Tuesday to unveil plans for a parking lot and staging area at the base of Fromme Mountain.

Slated for completion this fall, the parking lot includes washrooms and bike washing stations.

The project is an attempt to accommodate the steadily growing number of hikers and bikers who hit the trails while protecting the surrounding neighbourhood, according to a release from the district.

Fromme Mountain's 62 kilometres of trail are frequented by a diverse group of residents, including dog walkers, hikers, families out for a stroll as well as mountain bikers, according to Mark Wood, program manager for the North Shore Mountain Bike Association.

While the trails are plentiful, the parking is sparse, according to Wood.

"There's few recreational parks in the world that have such high (use) with no real parking or staging facilities," he said.

The area's lack of parking has created friction in the community, according to Wood.

"All they've done with the parking ban is move the problem down to Coleman Street," he said.

Wood congratulated council and staff for "taking the bull by the horns."

"The solution, in essence, is. .. long overdue," he said.

Not everyone is happy with the plan for a parking lot. Further examination of the wetlands is needed, according to district resident Wendy Qureshi.

Hard riding on soft terrain is not sustainable, said Qureshi, who added the parking lot was an example of the special treatmentenjoyed by the mountain biking community.

"It's only for the mountain bikers," she said. "Why should we taxpayers of the district pay money to facilitate their hobby?"Parking for the area has been debated before, with Mayor Richard Walton warning against putting a lot at the top of Fromme Mountain in 2011.

"If you turn that to a staging area you're going to create a monster," he said.

The meeting is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives on Institute Road. The district is set to release their transportation and parking study at the meeting.

Construction of the parking lot is scheduled to begin this summer. 

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DNV has clearly lost its original "VISION" about the "Balance" between wreckreation and "environmental management" (scroll down at this link, http://www.dnv.org/article.asp?c=988, to  view the 2003/04 powerpoint,at this button)

Back in 2004, this article was written about the swarm of wheeled locusts who took over our forests, illegally...."out of sight, out of mind", for most folk - (This is a short excerpt from it) Mt. Fromme Mtn. has always been the wrong place for mountain biking, but DNV continues to ram the square peg into the round hole, sending splinters of unworkable solutions flying everywhere.

It will all prove to get worse over time -- not better  The Fromme parking lot "solution" will  prove to be unworkable, long term. It won't solve anything, but just inflict more damage to our forest and wetland environments, and onto our neighbourhoods.  Mountain View Park is the very wrong place for mountain biking. Period! 

http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.html?id=d2c35e10-4f4d-4c29-8c7d-cda7e1cb2682 Alpine study to look at the recreational use of fragile ecosystems

This isn't Montana or Australia, and there's no doubt that precipitation contributes to erosion on our mountainsides. And although (IMBA-based) science may show that hikers and bikers have similar ecological impacts, in our case, it's the sheer volume of riders that may be doing the damage.

"We did a trail user study in August," said Rogers. "Just to get a flavour of who was up there, what they were doing there, and we definitely found a higher use among mountain bikers."

The goal of the district's study is to work together with all interested parties - recreational users, naturalists, area residents and other organizations - to find a **workable solution** that meets everyone's needs and provides for effective recreational and environmental management. 

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A final, realistic overview...

"The aggressive mountain biking agenda hegemony required a more organized, consistent and sustained pushback, perhaps from a newly created and supported provincial or national organization to umbrella an effort to counter this mountain biking agenda creep... that threatens the peace and quiet of our greens and commons, our wildernesses and other public lands... at huge public costs and environmental impacts. Perhaps, it is too late...

This is the price of hikers/conservationists/environmentalists/equestrians being asleep at the wheel for the last 20 years, while the mountain bikers worked like termites..."

 "Parking Lot Politics": Will they or won't they....? ( This news to be updated, for better or worse...stay tuned). 

2017 Update: The parking lot has been built (last year)... and another one on the same mountain is proposed... Pure insanity!