Camas to crack down on illegal Lake Road parking

With warmer weather on the way, Camas Police Chief Mitch Lackey says he is worried about the parking situation near Camas’ popular Heritage Park near Lacamas Lake Lodge.

“This park has an overuse issue. On warm days, boaters, swimmers and kayakers flock to the park and there’s not enough parking,” Lackey told the Camas City Council in early March.

Despite “no parking” signs along nearby Northwest Lake Road, Heritage Park users still tend to park on the side of the road — parking in the tento park tend to park on the side of the road instead of the pavement — when the designated parking lot is full, Lackey said.

“It’s very concerning to me,” he said.

“People are parked bumper to bumper all over the place (and) it’s already a busy road.”

The police chief told councilors he worries about people getting hit, especially children who are getting out of their family’s cars and excited about going to the park or lake.

“This park draws children,” Lackey said. “We have a playground there and we don’t want kids jutting out from in between cars to get to the playground.”

That’s why Lackey said he wants to “not just make it illegal to park (along Northwest Road), but impossible to park there.”

The city plans to install new signs this month reiterating the “no parking” ban along Northwest Lake Road near Heritage Park, and Lackey wants to see a physical barrier, perhaps a small fence, also installed along the roadway.

Camas’ public works director, Steve Wall, told city councilors at a March 2 Council workshop that city staff “has been making small improvements over time to handle growth at the park and along the lake,” but that his department needs help when it comes to enforcing parking safety near the park.

“We want to make it clear from (Lacamas Lake Lodge) to Lacamas Lane that there is no parking anytime,” Wall said.