Tin Town has evolved into a vital community hub hosting essential multi-disciplinary medical practitioners, a specialized pain clinic, and various community services. However, the area suffers from a severe lack of public parking and a near-total absence of designated, accessible parking spaces. Of the estimated dozens of street-level spaces, zero are structurally designated for those holding valid accessibility parking permits. 
Furthermore, private medical clinic parking spaces are frequently saturated or severely limited.

This severe infrastructural deficit creates systemic barriers and undue physical and emotional hardship for individuals with chronic pain, limited mobility, and severe disabilities who rely on mobility aids like walkers, crutches, or wheelchairs. Patients of the pain clinic are routinely forced to park multiple blocks away. Navigating long, unsupportive routes means individuals frequently arrive late or are physically exhausted for critical medical treatments. Moreover, this total lack of accessible parking means many individuals simply cannot  access Tin Town at all—whether to receive medical care or to socially partake in community life - such as visiting a local cafe for lunch. It is deeply dehumanizing, socially isolating, and disempowering for people with disabilities to be systemically left out of community spaces.
In its current state, Tin Town is functionally exclusionary and stands in direct violation of the intent of the Accessible British Columbia Act and the City of Courtenay Accessibility Plan.
 

Call to Action

We, the undersigned residents and visitors of the Comox Valley, respectfully request that the City of Courtenay Council immediately intervene to resolve these barriers by taking the following concrete actions:

Designate Accessible Street Spaces:
Immediately convert and clearly signpost a minimum percentage of existing street parking spaces in Tin Town specifically for vehicles displaying a valid BC Accessibility Parking Permit. 

Prioritize Medical Access Zones:
Strategically place significant numbers of the new designated disability parking spots directly adjacent to the high-volume medical clinic and therapeutic offices located within Tin Town. 

Review and Expand Total Infrastructure:
Conduct an immediate review of Tin Town’s current layout—including the traffic configuration around the central roundabout and student drop-off traffic—to safely expand overall visitor parking limits and prevent chronic employee/all-day clogging of primary storefront spaces