Additional truck parking on city-owned land has been approved by Surrey council, but not without two councillors voicing their opposition.

Located at 19320 20 Ave. in South Surrey, a portion of the city land will be used for truck parking by the same company, Prudential Transportation Ltd., that operates four other parking lots in the city. The contract for the new parking permit for 10 acres of city land is for three years with another three-year renewal option subject to council approval at the time.

At the regular Surrey council meeting on Monday (April 14), councillors voted 7-2 to proceed with the permit, with councillors Mandeep Nagra and Linda Annis opposed.

"I still have a number of proposals from the big companies that wanted to do this, and what we're doing here is just helping out one large corporation to grow even larger by giving them tax money and city land," Nagra said, referencing previous work he has done in finding locations for truck parking.

"The idea was to support smaller guys, like people with one or two trucks."

Annis agreed with Nagra's sentiments, echoing his point about the city helping out smaller trucking companies.

"I'm of similar concern, it seems like we're supporting the bug guys and we're having a lot of difficulties with the truck drivers that have one or maybe two or just a half a dozen trucks, and I think we really need to be focusing on them and finding a location too that is perhaps more environmentally friendly as well," Annis said.

"I think we just have to look a little harder," she added, pointing to Nagra's background and saying he could share locations that he and city staff were previously looking at as better options.

Annis is not alone in her concern about the environmental impacts, as A Rocha, an organization advocating for the environment and sustainability, voiced their concerns about the additional parking, which will be located adjacent to their centre.

The organization's website claims the plan "bypasses most environmental controls and contamination mitigation."

David and Shauna Anderson, A Rocha's directors in B.C., state they are trying to set up a meeting with Surrey city councillors but so far have been unsuccessful.

"If you鈥檙e a Surrey resident and/or represent an organization that has concerns, we invite you to respectfully advocate for a more positive outcome for all involved (A Rocha, Surrey and the truck parking lobby)," A Rocha states.

In response to the issue of environmental concerns, Scott Neuman, the city's manager for engineering, said no maintenance, washing, oil changes or any other work will be permitted at the parking lot; it is there only for trucks to park.

Additionally, a swale drain will also be on-site for run-off.

Nagra also alleged that Prudential Transportation Ltd. has been charging for parking spots at market level or sometimes even above.

"What they're doing is they're leasing the property from the city for cheap and leasing out these parking spots for the market rate. They're not any less than what the private owners are charging," Nagra said, adding that parking per spot will be at a price tag of $500.

"At their other locations they're charging $450 to $500, and in some cases it's $550 and I know that for a fact."

The company currently operates 150 parking spots and with this new contract, will have 240 more under their belt.

After a question from Coun. Harry Bains, general manager of corporate services Joey Brar said that market level for truck parking is typically between $300 and $450, depending on the size of the truck. The other sites the company operates were not promised to be below market, Brar stated, but added that on this new site they have promised to make about half of the spots below market.

The city has not received any complaints for the other sites Prudential Transportation Ltd. operates, Brar added.

"It's not our understanding that they're charging above market so in those submissions, they were charging a rate of $300 to $400 for their spots," Brar said.

"What really set them apart is their experience operating several large truck parks, their business plan for operating this park and also their financial contribution they're putting forward to the city. In addition, there were strong letters of reference."

Meanwhile, Bains and Mayor Brenda Locke voiced support for the move to increase more truck parking spots in the city.

"Although they're a large Surrey-based transportation company, they will be providing parking for other transportation companies rather than their own trucks so when we're talking about the small guys with one or two trucks, this is an option for them," Bains said.

"Our goal here should be to assist the trucking industry as a whole."

Locke pointed to a lack of truck parking spaces in Surrey, which, according to the city, has resulted in bylaw issues such as unauthorized parking and "improper use" of roadways.

"I don't think anybody doesn't recognize the need for more truck parking, it has been an issue, been something we've been dealing with," she said.

The mayor added that no additional truck parking was done all of last council's term.

In the corporate report, the city states that more than 2,000 bylaw tickets were issued to commercial trucks, adding that a "significant" number of them were due to a shortfall of truck parking spots in Surrey.

Now approved, this will be the fifth commercial truck parking site operated on city land, operated by the same company to open in the last year, the city states.