Park board commissioner attempts mid-summer removal of Kits Pool reservation system, but will likely be thwarted by procedure rules

ABC park board Commissioner Marie-Claire Howard is trying to scrap the reservation system for Kits Pool by the end of the month, which currently allocates 80% of capacity for online reservations and 20% for drop-ins. 

In a Thursday press release, ABC Vancouver said the advance booking system, originally put in place during the pandemic, is “creating more barriers than benefits,” including a “lack of spontaneity that defines summer in Vancouver.” 

For public swimming at Kits, there are four two-and-a-half-hour time slots per day, with a half-hour period included in every slot for pool cleaning and for swimmers to get organized, shower, and change before the next group enters.  

The biggest difference between the current system and old one is that you have to leave at the end of the time slot, rather than being able to swim and lounge at your own pace. 

“Imagine you go there for a swim, you're relaxed and zen, and then you've got this announcement, get out of the pool. Your time is up. It just kills the buzz,” Howard told Vancity Lookout. 

If the pool is at full capacity and someone leaves before the end of the session, another person from the drop-in line would then be allowed in. However, depending on when someone enters the pool they would have a limited amount of time to swim before the end of the session.

With her motion, Howard said she wants to create a one-month trial – starting in August – without the reservation system in place, to inform the park board’s policy for next year. 

“A lot of people are unhappy… I'm suggesting just take a chance. Do the month of August without reservation.” Howard said, while eliminating the 30-minute period between sessions.

Howard particularly has a problem with those thirty minutes between each session, which adds up to two hours per day when the pool isn’t being used. She said she’s spoken several times with park board GM Steve Jackson about her concerns prior to submitting her motion earlier this week. 

“There seems to be a disconnection between what staff are hearing about how people were happy, because those are the people who are getting reservations and swimming, and people were not going to the pool because they either do not [have a] reservation or think they can’t get a reservation,” Howard explained. 

“Is it a perception problem, or is it a reality problem? I think the best way to do it is to test by removing the reservation system,” Howard said. 

However, fellow Commissioner Scott Jensen thinks it’s unlikely Howard’s motion will even come before the board for a decision until September.  “I wouldn't be surprised if this is just performative politics,” on ABC’s part, Jensen told Vancity Lookout.

While Howard told Vancity Lookout she plans to bring her motion (which isn’t on the agenda for Monday’s meeting) as a matter of urgent business, there are specific requirements to do that, which Howard said she wasn’t aware of when she spoke with Vancity Lookout on Thursday.

Motions introduced by commissioners typically need to be tabled at the previous meeting. However, any commissioner can bring a matter of urgent business to the board, if it’s connected to “public health or safety, [or] a financial or legal matter of significance,” according to the park board’s procedure bylaw. 

That’s important in this case because Monday’s board meeting is the last before the summer holiday. The next board meeting won’t take place until September 15, while Kits Pool will close in early September, according to the ABC Vancouver press release. 

“[The] park board has very clearly articulated procedures that should be well known in our third year [as] commissioners,” Jensen said, adding the advanced warning for motions is done for transparency and professionalism.   

“Staff has not highlighted any issues with the motion so I am assuming that the protocol is being respected,” Howard said.

Jensen explained that the board chair, currently Commissioner Laura Christensen, decides what qualifies as urgent business based on the criteria outlined in the procedure bylaw. 

“I don’t believe [Howard’s motion] would meet that threshold,” Jensen said, adding that he’d more very happy to debate and discuss the issue in September.

Howard said that if her motion can’t be debated and voted on on Monday it would be a moot point and she would create a new, more comprehensive motion in the fall. 

Jensen told Vancity Lookout that in his circles, as an elementary school teacher, he’s hearing from lots of families with young children who’ve found reservations to be an advantage, by guaranteeing access in advance.

“The people that are swimming are really appreciating the fact it's not a jammed up session that we're not trying to shoehorn in as many people as possible,” Jensen said, adding that from his perspective, the system is working well.

According to the park board, there have been very few days when drop-in pool goers have been denied an impromptu dip. Jackson wrote a memo in late June, just a few days after the pool reopened, discussing concerns around the reservation system. 

“While we appreciate this access policy isn’t preferred by all swim users, staff note that it has been accepted and appreciated by most,” Jackson said, saying the park board had been considering changes to their pool access processes since 2018, two years before the pandemic. 

“In 2024, only two days saw 100% reservation bookings across all sessions. Typically, it takes a day or two for the most popular time slots (noon and 3 pm) to sell out, with the exception being in cases of known hot weather forecasts,” Jackson said in the memo, pointing to that stat as a indication that there’s enough flexibility for people who want to drop-in on a whim. 

All four outdoor pools in Vancouver have the same reservation system, but Howard told Vancity Lookout that her motion would only apply to Kits Pool because “that’s where people are complaining.”

“I live in Kits and I can’t go out of my home without somebody approaching me and asking me to do something about this,” Howard said, saying she’s bringing the urgent motion to next week’s meeting because of a significant increase in complaints over the past 7-10 days. 

Howard said she doesn’t know why there’s been such a noticeable increase in negative comments about the reservation system at Kits. It may simply be a product of people having negative experiences or perceptions about reservations now that the pool is back up and running. 

But there’s also been significant media attention on the issue over the past 20 or so days, with local media personality Jody Vance leading the criticism. 

Vance has been very vocal in her opposition to the reservation system. “Why are you gatekeeping? Free Kits Pool,” Vance said in one of several Instagram videos at the pool, showing lines in one video and a small number of swimmers at the pool in another. 

“I’ve been on a little bit of a soapbox,” Vance admitted, in an interview on CKNW, where she’s worked as a host. Vance described how she’s very passionate about Kits Pool, which has been an important place throughout her life, including swimming there every day in her later teens. 

Recently, Vance said she was able to get into the pool as a drop-in with her family of four when there were no reservations available, but was frustrated that the session was ending in less than an hour. “I just feel for those who want to spontaneously go for a swim,” Vance said.

Jensen sees Howard’s motion as a response to Vance’s very public championing of the issue. Howard said she’d heard Vance’s CKNW interview but denied that Vance had any direct influence on her motion.

A personal experience

Naturally, I had to try to go for a spontaneous swim. Writing this story on a hot Thursday, I checked to see if there were spots available that day. With no luck getting a day-of reservation, I headed over for a drop-in plunge during the 3 pm session. 

I arrived at about 3:10 to a big line of people entering the pool and waited for about 10 minutes to get in, with no lineup for people with reservations. A staff member taking payments said they were letting all the drop-ins that day. By 3:30, there was no one waiting in line to get in. 

After a quick dip and a moment cooking on the concrete (I don’t know how people could sit there for a long time!), I was off and on my way. 

There are at least 36 drop-in spots each for the 9 am and 6 pm sessions and 60 spots for the noon and 3 pm sessions every day. Reservations open three days in advance on a rolling basis.

On their website, the park board recommends that pool users get reservations given the limited number of drop-in spots, and emphasizes that drop-in admission is not guaranteed. But that shouldn’t stop you from trying.