Discovery Delays City Demolition Project

The plan for a new parking lot on a city-owned site in downtown Vernon has hit an environmental snag.

The New Delhi Restaurant and Open Learning Centre buildings on 29th Street were demolished back in June, but Mayor Akbal Mund says the site now has to be cleaned-up.

“I guess there must have been a gas station at that site a long time ago because they found a container that had fuel in it, so therefore there are provincial rules that we have to follow,” Mund tells Kiss FM.

Mund says it could delay the completed paved parking lot until next year, although part of it may be able to open before that.

“They will look at it, and maybe we can open it up temporarily, by leaving it as gravel, and have people park on it. That’s not hard to do. You can spray the lines on.”

City real estate manager Brett Bandy told council, says they will look into a partial opening for parking on gravel after remediation work is down in a few weeks.

Mund says there is a need for more parking downtown.

“There is always demand for parking downtown. Everyone wants to be as close as possible and I get that. You look around most of the side streets downtown, and most of them are full.”