Vail to start charging for summer parking for first time in town’s history
Town needs funds to maintain aging structures to keep transit and parking program 'revenue neutral'
Vail Daily archive
In Vail, parking issues have always created headaches for the town’s leaders, but parking problems have never reached a point where the town needed to start charging for parking in the summer.
Until now.
For the first time in the town’s history, parking will not be free this summer, according to a new plan approved by the Town Council on Tuesday.
The plan was put together by the town’s Parking and Mobility Task Force over the last few months and calls for parking in the Vail Village and Lionshead parking structures to be $2 per hour, with the first hour free and a max of $10 per day. After 3 p.m., parking will continue to be free, and the overnight rate (assessed between the hours of 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.) will be $60. The program will run from May 30 to Sept. 28.
Remaining revenue neutral
The Town Council, on Tuesday, heard a presentation from Greg Hall with Vail’s public works department, and Stephanie Kashiwa, the town’s parking operations manager.
The Vail Village parking structure is 50 years old, while the Lionshead structure is 45 years old. Hall said the maintenance costs are going to increase significantly to keep the aging structures in use. To keep Vail’s transit and parking program “revenue neutral,” Hall said, new revenues will need to be generated.
“Parking revenue and ski lift tax, which was dedicated to provide transit service, those combined pay for both parking operations and transit operations,” Hall said. “This is not an issue of the town looking to bring in money where they don’t need it, it’s truly to continue to support both enhanced transit and dealing with the parking issues.”
Hall said the paid summer parking plan will support the town’s strategic plan, as well, which includes a goal to reduce the number of locals using the parking structures.
“Right now, about 72% of our use is from both Eagle County and trips that originate in Vail, and you’re trying to get that down to about 50%,” Hall said. “The reason you’re trying to do that is so you don’t have to build additional parking spaces. Additional parking spaces cost anywhere from $85,000 to $125,000 and up, and so every parking space that you don’t have to build is a significant savings to the town, long term.”
What about workers?
For those who need to drive into town for work, parking passes will offer a way to cut down on the new costs the paid summer parking plan will create.
A Vail Local Pass will cost $25, and Eagle County Local pass will cost $50, an employee pass will cost $150, and employee-plus pass will cost $450 and a premium pass will cost $1,220.
The premier and employee plus passes will provide free access to all of the town’s lots; the employee pass will provide free access to the Lionshead parking structure and a 50% discount to the Vail Village parking structure; and the Vail and Eagle County Local passes will provide 50% discounts off all lots. Winter parking passes will remain active throughout the summer.
Council member Dave Chapin thanked the parking task force for including options for locals to pay less for parking.
“If you have a local pass, you’re going to pay $25 a week, not $50, if you work five days a week,” Chapin said.
The paid summer parking plan was unanimously approved by the seven-member Town Council on Tuesday.
Council member Barry Davis said the plan is a work in progress.
“I don’t think this is a perfect system; I think it has a lot of confusing things,” Davis said. “But I think that’s going to deliver us a lot of great data, I think this is a great place for us to start moving forward.”
