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[243Pete]

Well since the Vedder river blew out me and a few friends decided to head over to the Stave and see if we could drift some roe for a possibly early coho. As we were driving up towards the hydro dam we saw a whole line of cars with tickets and a by-law officer in their vehicle talking with two anglers (most likely about the tickets) at around 8:20am, went over the dam and towards the West side and again we saw a whole bunch of vehicles with tickets again so to play it a bit safe we drove down to the lowest part to park and fish. After about 45 minutes of nothing we decided to see if the gate to the parking lot has been open (gates open at 9am) and as we were driving again I saw the same officer in his car with lights on so I decided to have a bit of a chat and see what was the deal.
From what I was told that there has been a large amount of phone calls from residents complaining about vehicles parking along the road on the West and East side of the Stave so they are now enforcing the no parking along the road and for people who parked on the West side it was only warning and on the East it was a fine. The reasoning behind it is that people parked up closer to the dam (East side) are parking to close to the white line which is making people walk into traffic and causing other road users to put themselves in danger, the West side was issued warning tickets as again... same reasoning as stated before.

Now for the interesting tid-bit, if your tires are making contact with the paved portion of the road that is city property and they will issue tickets and tow vehicles this year, but if your vehicle is completely clear of the road (no tires making contact with the paved portion of the road) that is BC hydro property and as stated by the officer he is not sure if they can or cannot issue tickets and tow vehicles for being on BC Hydro property but there is that possibility.
I brought up the issue about signs (I know a lot of them have been removed and damaged intentionally) so he said that from where the first sign starts nearest to Stave view drive all the way to the hydro dam there is no parking at all along that ENTIRE stretch of road so for this week it will be mostly warning tickets but after this week it will be fines and tows.

It's going to make for an interesting year as even on the lowest stretch of road (Keystone ave) they have put a fence to stop people from parking near the lake along that side of the road.

[Vancouver_2010]

wow, that's going to make for an interesting late October...
Thanks for the heads up!

[243Pete]

wow, that's going to make for an interesting late October...
Thanks for the heads up!

For sure, I got a feeling there are going to be a LOT of people wondering where their vehicles went while holding a bunch of chum and possibly some coho.
No problem, just wanted to share this cause I had a chat with the by-law officer.
It's for those to pick and choose what they are willing to do and risk and a tow, fine and all that is not how I want to spend a day fishing.

[DanL]

I can see their point, as those roads are not designed for hundreds of parked cars. It seems that there's been complaints for years, and now they're going to play hardball. It's too bad, as such a popular and newb friendly river has such little legitimate access...

After about 45 minutes of nothing we decided to see if the gate to the parking lot has been open (gates open at 9am) and as we were driving again I saw the same officer in his car with lights on so I decided to have a bit of a chat and see what was the deal.

Dunno if it's possible but could it be suggested to have the one actual parking lot in the day use area opened earlier? Sunrise to sunset at bare minimum. The fact it doesn't open until 9 could be a contributing factor

[243Pete]

I can see their point, as those roads are not designed for hundreds of parked cars. It seems that there's been complaints for years, and now they're going to play hardball. It's too bad, as such a popular and newb friendly river has such little legitimate access...

Dunno if it's possible but could it be suggested to have the one actual parking lot in the day use area opened earlier? Sunrise to sunset at bare minimum. The fact it doesn't open until 9 could be a contributing factor

Same, I believe there was a thread a couple years ago talking about the "newly" posted no parking signs along the West side of the river and that residents have been complaining about the number of cars parked along the road, parking to closely to the white line and some near misses between large logging trucks, people and smaller vehicles.

They should do that but I also believe that the gates are opened earlier during the month of October so people can access the river more earlier, I do recall last year being able to get to the parking lot at 8am cause a friend decided to sleep in so no first light coho for us but changed plans to play with some chums. It should be suggested since it will more or less likely be a very busy season again and I could only imagine the chaos that will ensue from people getting ticketed and towed.

[Fish Assassin]

Is this applicable to the side closest to the housing or both sides of the road ?

[Clarki Hunter]

If I was retired, I would buy a small school bus and charge $10 round trip.  Pick up Mission Walmart.

[Animal Chin]

bah.. shoot, that sucks. Coho closures in lower, no more bar fishing in Richmond, dump bar done.. now gotta figure out a way to fish the Stave. I really don't want to worry about my car being not being there after a long day of fishing. Though I can't really blame the residents because fishermen can be a hot mess, even if it's only a month of inconvenience out of the year, but still.. sucks.

Thanks for the public service announcement.

[coastangler]

Thanks for the heads up and the tips. If they move from warnings to fines on the west side it will be quite painful to access the West bank.

[Blood_Orange]

Ugh that sucks. I get the concerns but there's no practical way to make it work for the people that want to park legally and be considerate of the locals. The lot at the hydro picnic area isn't close to big enough for salmon season, regardless of whether they open the gates earlier. You could park at the Railway Trail lot at Hayward Lake and walk down but that's a bit of a walk and that lot isn't very big either.

[dennisK]

Thanks so much for the info Pete!

But frankly I just would not pay the ticket. It's a municipality. They can't touch you. Oh and the stories about collection agencies destroying your credit ratings for a couple of parking tickets - that's up there with the easter bunny and santa claus.  I got a loan for $800k about 4 years ago. My collateral was my house. The bank did a credit check and no problem. I've also gotten credit cards in the last few years as well. And I know I have about a dozen parking tickets from the fine city of north vancouver which I will never pay. Ever. Long story but it has to do with the area around grouse mountain lol. 2 hr limit for non-residents. Apparently I'm on the hit parade of some local archie bunker....he loves to call the city when I park near his fine home to walk the dogs.

[243Pete]

Is this applicable to the side closest to the housing or both sides of the road ?

I believe both sides of the road as there are more no stopping signs along the side closest to the residential and no parking on the side closest the river.

[243Pete]

If I was retired, I would buy a small school bus and charge $10 round trip.  Pick up Mission Walmart.

Hahaha maybe we should open a thread to shuttle anglers to and from for a small nominal fee.  Could make up your gas money in a day.

[243Pete]

bah.. shoot, that sucks. Coho closures in lower, no more bar fishing in Richmond, dump bar done.. now gotta figure out a way to fish the Stave. I really don't want to worry about my car being not being there after a long day of fishing. Though I can't really blame the residents because fishermen can be a hot mess, even if it's only a month of inconvenience out of the year, but still.. sucks.

Thanks for the public service announcement.

Seems like more and more things are closing down bit by bit that eventually we can't fish anywhere at all for any reason from no fish to no parking.

I rather not be the one to bring the bad news but better than a bunch of people posting about how they got towed and the hassle it was to get everything done.

[243Pete]

Thanks for the heads up and the tips. If they move from warnings to fines on the west side it will be quite painful to access the West bank.

No problem and yes it would be quite the pain in the back end to get a fine and possibly towed all for a chum...

But right now I am waiting to see what they say about chum retention in the Stave as the numbers might not be good like a few years back, they closed retention mid season for chum and the Stave went quiet.