Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
BRECKENRIDGE — At Tuesday’s Breckenridge Town Council work session, council members agreed to raise parking rates for long-term and overnight parking in some areas in order to discourage people from leaving their cars in town.
“The idea behind paid parking from the get-go was to force people to make a choice between paying or parking further out of town and taking the shuttle,” Breckenridge Mayor Eric Mamula said.
Council members attested that many locals use in-town parking — which is meant for only an hour or two — for overnight and long-term parking. Mamula alluded to the fact that his employees use the Ice House lot for their shifts because the rates are lower. Other council members expressed concern that locals use in-town parking for a ski day rather than paying for parking in ski lots.
“The overnight thing has really just gotten out of control, and we feel like a lot of people are taking advantage of the cheap rate for lodging,” Mamula said.
Council’s overall goal for in-town parking is to have an 80% average occupancy rate to allow people who stop in town for retail or restaurants to have a space to park. The idea behind having spaces open is also to prevent people from circling for a parking spot, which can create traffic problems.
Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
Parking for the first 15 minutes is free, and parking for the first hour is 50 cents. But the prices ramp up after the fourth hour.
“If you do it where people aren’t parking for four hours, and they’re parking for two hours instead, you free up more space,” Mamula said.
While this policy has worked on Main Street and in other town areas that are in the Rate A payment bracket, people are using Rate B areas for lengthy amounts of time.
Council decided to change the prices for Ridge Street, the Tonopah lot, the Ice House lot and the Lower Exchange lot to the same prices as those of North Main Street. This will keep parking at or below $4 for the first three hours, but will raise four-hour parking to $5.50 on weekdays and $9 on weekends.
The discussion was part of council’s review of the annual parking report, which pointed out that the fees and expenses associated with the parking facilities, kiosks and technology, as well as credit card fees, are a significant expense.
Results of the price changes will be evaluated in next year’s annual parking report.