Illegal parking at Cultus Lake puts locals, visitors at risk, resident says

CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) – Illegally parked Cultus Lake beachgoers are being called out for putting others at risk.

It’s a “beautiful destination” and “great place for family fun,” says a resident of the Cultus Lake area, who’s begging people to behave better as they flock to the lake.

Katrina Clow says hundreds of families live on the lake’s south-west side, in Lindell Beach and Columbia Valley, and they’re safety is on the line when people park in emergency pullouts.

“There is only one road in or out to the communities on the west end of the lake” Clow writes in an open letter to area visitors.

“The no parking zones on the sides of the road may seem like an easily ignored inconvenience to many of you who can’t find space in the lot at your beach of choice. However for those who call this area home they’re an important lifeline,” she writes.

She says the pullouts are there so vehicles can pull off of the narrow, winding and often busy road to allow ambulances, fire trucks and police through in an emergency. If the roads and pullouts are blocked, it can take up to an hour-and-a-half to reach the communities on the far side of the lake.

“Now consider if it was your parent having a heart attack or your child had a bad fall? Perhaps your loved one went for a hike or swim and required immediate help from search and rescue? How would you feel knowing the help they need is unlikely to reach them in time?” asks Clow.

Aside from imploring people to do the right thing, Clow is putting the blame on the province for not finding an enforcement solution within the provincial park.

No jurisdiction

The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) says it’s frustrated with the situation as residents often raise the issue with the district, which has no jurisdiction.

“We have suggested that the province or other landholders could build more parking lots. We have suggested the placement of barriers or road delineators to prevent illegal parking in trouble spots. We have suggested closing the road when BC Parks and Cultus Lake Park are full, and establish a shuttle from a nearby parking lot in the City of Chilliwack. We have called tow trucks to come when cars are parked illegally, but they can only manage so much and it takes a while for them to respond,” says Jennifer Kinneman, a district spokesperson.

Kinneman says the RCMP has been designated as the authority in charge of enforcement along Columbia Valley Road, under the Community Charter Act.

“Unfortunately, regional districts are not included under the Community Charter or the Local Government Act as agencies that can obtain this authority. The FVRD has asked the Province for changes to the Act that would permit the FVRD to use its own bylaw enforcement officers to regulate parking on Columbia Valley Highway,” says Kinneman, explaining such a change would impact every district in the province, so it becomes a rather big ask to fix an issue at one lake.

Kinneman says it is going to take a “concerted, collaborative effort,” and additional funding to fix the issue.

Clow is now asking people to write to the province to ask for upgrades or solutions.

“For well over 20 years these no parking zones have been in place, yet the province has never designated anyone the power to reinforce it,” she says.