VANCOUVER -- A Delta mom is calling on her local government to reopen parking lots at Deas Island and Boundary Bay after they were closed to promote physical distancing earlier this month.
Kirsten Laufer has two energetic boys, seven-year-old Benjamin and four-year-old Joshua. Normally this time of year they’d be in school, but since spring break, during the pandemic, the kids have been home.
"It's just been a really long struggle," Laufer said.
She, like so many parents across the province, has been dealing with the day to day challenge of trying to keep kids entertained at home, away from school, parks, playgrounds and their friends.
"We do a lot more screen time than I ever thought we'd do," she explained. "First and foremost I'm a mom and I'll do anything I can to protect them. But I also know that their mental health is really important right now and that's what's struggling a lot."
She said she's taken her kids to Iona Beach in Richmond, where there is parking just to get some space, but she'd prefer to remain in her community.
The family lives six kilometres from Deas Island and 12 kilometres from Boundary Bay. Since the Easter long weekend, the parking lots at both parks have been closed.
"With two active children it's not safe for us to bike there, it's not safe for us to walk there," said Laufer.
So she wrote the municipality a letter.
"I contacted the City of Delta because I did have concerns about this and they have very large parking lots," she said. "And I understand they have had historically issues with parking at capacity in the summer."
She listed some ideas they could do such as limiting the number of spots open.
"Why not do every other parking space as a lot of shopping centres are doing," she suggested, adding the parking lot could also just be open on weekdays.
"At what point are they going to recognize that for a lot of young families like us, these parks are essentially in our neighbourhood," she said.
CTV News reached out to the City of Delta for comment but has not heard back yet. Laufer received a response April 24 where they said that by closing the parking lots they've been able to limit visiting from outside the community, that a "more fulsome parking strategy" is in the works, and they are "monitoring the situation."
Meanwhile, the provincial government announced Wednesday they are working on their safe reopening strategy and some golf courses in Vancouver and VanDusen Botanical Garden open Friday.
Metro Vancouver Regional District runs the parks itself which are open, but a spokesperson told CTV News it's up to the municipality to decide when to reopen the parking lots.
Laufer said she understands the severity of the pandemic.
"We're a family that wears masks when we go out, you know like we're really cautious," she said.
Given the size of the parks and the amount of space people can spread out, Laufer said there's lots of ways to keep a safe, physical distance.
"Now especially that we’re looking at reopening, when is Delta going to treat us like adults," she said.
"Just like Bonnie Henry said, she's a big fan of treating everybody like they're adults. When is Delta going to start doing that as well?"
