Park at your peril!
Update: July 28th 2013. Apparently the Deli has been sold. The new owners will be taking over shortly. I think the days of Park at your Peril may well be over now.
Update April 8 2018: The owners who took over are much more laid back. All is well with regard to that parking space. Almost everyone parks with a considerate eye to the 45 minute time limit request. We are getting along once more.
Let the following stand as an example of what happens when opposing interests choose to do otherwise.
You are looking at a valuable piece of real estate. It’s a parking spot in front of one of the businesses in Cowichan Bay Village. It’s a spot that has been the subject of more than a few squabbles, the venue for that variety of street theater which goes a long way towards making Cowichan Bay Village the interesting place to live that it is.
There’s a little sign associated with the parking space, which suggests that parking is permissible for only 15 minutes per visitor between the hours of 7am and 7pm, seven days a week.
The sign goes so far as to suggest that parking is “free” and says “please” which is a very quaint touch.
If you stray too long, you may expect on arriving back at your vehicle with loaf of bread or tub of ice-cream in hand, children in tow, to be accosted by the woman who runs the deli closest to this, the holy grail of all Cowichan Bay Village parking spaces. She will undoubtedly point to the sign and wish you speedily on your way.
The list of individuals who have been publicly castigated by this woman seems to grow on an almost daily basis. What was once an exclusive club comprising of a handful of Village residents, has been opened up to welcome visitors from all over the countryside.
This sign tells big whopping lies.
Parking is permitted for 72 hours max.
The conversation, as I have heard it described goes more or less as follows: “Don’t you see the sign?” “It says 15 minute parking only.”
If the miscreant parker has the temerity to suggest that the rules of parking on Cowichan Bay’s highway (yes, it is a highway believe it or not) permit a stay of as much as 72 hours, not withstanding the cute little sign, the conversation turns slightly uglier. Refuse to move your vehicle, stand on your right to park and threats of “I’ll have you towed” have been known.
It’s all nonsense of course. The lady who runs the deli counts on you not knowing the rules. She likes to bully.
So dear visitor, if you park in front of the deli and remain there for half an hour, and the woman who runs the place comes scuttling out to wish you off, rest assured that you are indeed in the right, and in good company besides.
Half the people who live here, myself included have experienced her special brand of joy.
@Smarter Than You
Well, I suppose we could do that, but wouldn’t that just make things worse?
I think the goal should be to simply have everyone pretty much follow the rules and at the same time to stop people from exerting “ownership” over space they have no right to. That falls on both sides of the issue by the way. In the past there have been unlicensed vehicles parked along the highway, boat trailers left unattended and RVs parked for a week at a time. A lot of those belonged to village residents. You must agree, that’s not very neighborly either.
As for your suggestion of walking, well… I wholeheartedly agree. I need to do more of that myself!
About the parking signs in front of the “deli” (next to the bakery) in the Village of Cowichan Bay, I have an idea.
Why not rat out the owner of the deli and have the Department of Highways request that she remove her precious parking signs? That would surely crank up her anxiety and make her even more difficult than she already is.
Cowichan Bay Road has existed far longer than the shops and stores along this roadway in the village. We live in a “walking” community, so it would not kill anyone to have a pleasant stroll from Hecate Park and to see all of the stores and services in the heart of our village. Besides, many of us need some exercise and are carrying around excess weight anyways. I think it’s funny that we drive to a bakery, deli and ice cream store where calories and fat go hand in hand.