The one Fraser Valley park where you might be able to (legally) drink this year

The City of Chilliwack will decide today whether public drinking will be allowed for another summer. And so far, it is the only place in the Fraser Valley to consider the idea.

Last August, the city decided to allow visitors to drink beer, wine, and other adult beverages at Vedder Park and Crossing Park (located across the river from each other next to the Vedder Bridge, at the southern end of Chilliwack). The pilot project ran until the end of October, and allowed for "responsible drinking" in designated areas between noon and 9pm.

The project was a success. RCMP and Bylaw Enforcement heard no complaints about drinking in the designated parks, while 60% of respondents in an initial survey (which received 733 responses) were at least somewhat in support of continuing the pilot project. (More than 80% of respondents in a post-implementation survey were in support of a similar project for this year—although only 19 people filled out that survey.)

"Spending time outdoors is safer than indoors right now, and we hope this pilot project fosters a new way for people to safely and responsibly connect," Mayor Ken Popove said back in August. Legal drinking in parks has been examined in many other BC jurisdictions due to the pandemic; the North Shore was the first place in Canada outside of Quebec to allow it, and other communities also began discussing the idea. Delta has a pilot project planned for this summer, and Port Coquitlam created a permanent bylaw in February of this year.

Other than Chilliwack, Fraser Valley communities were not among those exploring such plans. Last year, Abbotsford Mayor Henry Braun noted that, despite the lack of a bylaw, "drinking alcohol in parks has been going on for a long time in Abbotsford." If approved, the Chilliwack bylaw would only allow alcohol consumption in parts of Vedder Park, rather than both Vedder and Crossing Park. (The staff report noted there weren’t many people using Crossing Park last year.) Although many respondents to the initial survey wanted to see the pilot project extend into Chilliwack proper, with Fairfield Park, on the other side of town as a possible location, that isn’t being considered so far. The bylaw also prohibits the use of glass bottles, and you’ll still be restricted to the hours of noon and 9pm.

The bylaw as written only allows the public to drink in Vedder Park from June 1 to Oct. 31 of this year. What happens after another COVID summer remains to be seen.