Beachfront parking at Sylvan Lake increasing to $50/day this summer

Parking in Sylvan Lake is getting more expensive as the town raises the price to $50 a day. CTV News Edmonton's Curtis Goodrum reports.

The cost to park in Sylvan Lake as a tourist goes up starting Friday.

The town is increasing the cost of daily parking at the Lighthouse Park and Centennial Park lots to $50 from $30.

The town also added a $10/hour zone along Lakeshore Drive near the marina.

Residents can register to be exempt from the program.

Several told CTV News Edmonton they support the change if it benefits the town in the ways that council is promising.

“The beach can definitely get messy in the summer if people are not mindful to pick up after themselves. And that definitely does get on the nerves of the people around here,” resident Anita Wester told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.

“This last upgrade cost millions of dollars for washrooms and revamping the parking down here. It’s all got to come out of somebody’s pocket – which is ours,” said another, Parry Robertson.

The additional revenue will be put toward cleanliness, additional bathrooms, and additional enforcement officers.

“We heard that some of the areas that were free parking were getting impacted because they were free and a block over you had paid parking, so, of course, they would get those that came in and parked for the whole day outside of their business,” Mayor Megan Hanson said.

Although she said businesses initiated the conversation, management at one Lakeshore Drive restaurant is wary.

“We never want it to be a deterrent to come to the beach,” said Muriel Pritchard, a managing partner at Sun of a Beach.

“I do see the reasoning for an increase in parking, but hopefully it’s able to be re-evaluated at the end of the season and what cost actually makes sense.”

Hanson has promised the town will examine the change’s positive and negative effects after the season, as it has annually for other tweaks.

She is hopeful tourism levels won’t be impacted.

It remains free to park on 50 Avenue in front of the library and near the Nexsource Centre behind the library, which Hanson said is a five-minute walk away from the beach and has not been fully utilized in previous years.

“If you still want to come have a free day in Sylvan Lake, you can do that if you’re willing to walk just a couple of minutes. We did a study a couple of years ago and talked about what reasonable walking distance was,” the mayor said.

She said frequent visitors can pay $250 for an annual pass to park “like a local.”

During the fall and winter months, the $50 daily rate will drop to $10.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Curtis Goodrum and Dave Mitchell