Image: City of Chilliwack / Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove says there are no immediate plans to introduce paid parking in and around Chilliwack's downtown core. Instead, he says the City of Chilliwack will be looking to somehow partner up, or purchase more land, so that it can create more unpaid parking stalls in and around downtown Chilliwack.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Paid parking in downtown Chilliwack

Mayor Popove reaffirms stance on paid parking in downtown Chilliwack, casts doubt on parkade possibility

Jan 9, 2025 | 10:06 AM

CHILLIWACK — There are no immediate plans to introduce paid parking in and around Chilliwack’s downtown core, Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove said Thursday morning (Jan. 9) during his weekly segment on 89.5 JR Country with Morning show host Glen Slingerland.

Instead, Mayor Popove says the City of Chilliwack will be looking to somehow partner up, or purchase more land, so that it can create more unpaid parking stalls in and around downtown Chilliwack.

“The short answer is no,” Popove said when asked by Slingerland about paid parking in downtown Chilliwack. “We are gonna expand our parking facilities in the near future to the north of the [Victoria Avenue] parking lot that’s already there. We’ve purchased the house that’s further north of the parking lot. Our surface parking is probably gonna grow by maybe 50, 60, 70 spots. We’re always looking for opportunities to partner up or purchase more land, so we can create more parking.”

While the possibility of a parkade has been mentioned, it’s unlikely to come to downtown Chilliwack anytime soon, Popove said, due to their exorbitant cost.

“I know a parkade has been talked about. They’re expensive. They’re about 30 grand a spot,” Popove told Slingerland. “So, you do the math. They’re not cheap to construct. Maybe down the road that might be something that will happen, but if we can expand these two lots into surface parking, I think we’ll be fine in Chilliwack and the downtown core.”

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In the meantime, Popove encourages business owners to park on the outskirts of their business in order to allow customers to park near their business. He says he understands that parking is a pain.

“There’s been no talk lately about that (paid parking),” he said. “I suppose if it becomes a problem, we may have to look at that strategy, but I hope not. We want to keep it wide open for everybody. [Free parking] is another attractant to what’s going on downtown. Come on down.”