SkiCo rejects parking agreement
After being rebuffed by the Aspen Skiing Co., the Snowmass Village Town Council is backpedaling on a decision to charge for parking starting this winter in the 400-space rodeo lot near the town’s entrance.
Councilman Reed Lewis said he’s “heard from several parties throughout the community” who were against paid parking at the rodeo lot, and that there was “just the general feeling that we’re not being welcoming at a time when we need to be more welcoming.”
The town and SkiCo sign an agreement every year that governs parking in and management of Snowmass’ 2,200 parking spaces for the ski season. But after Town Council voted two weeks ago to start charging $5 per car to park in the rodeo lot, SkiCo “declined your counterproposal on the winter parking agreement,” town attorney John Dresser told the council at its Monday meeting.
The rodeo lot is the last free place for day skiers to park in Snowmass Village. No day-skier spaces will be available in the Base Village parking garage, and the 400-space Two Creeks parking lot cost $13 per car last winter. Lot C, owned by Related WestPac, will also have paid day-skier parking. In most lots, cars with four or more people park for free as do people who arrive after 1 p.m.
The original plan presented at the July 7 meeting did not include paid parking at the rodeo lot — the agreement on the table included things like resident parking pass pricing in the numbered lots and who would manage which day-skier lots. Town staff, in their recommendation, said it was premature to start charging for the rodeo parking because there wasn’t an effective park-and-ride program from the Brush Creek intercept lot.
Snowmass Mountain Manager Steve Sewell argued at that same meeting that charging at the rodeo lot would negatively impact the SkiCo’s guests.
But the council voted 3-2 for paid parking, with council members Lewis, Arnie Mordkin and John Wilkinson in favor and Mayor Doug “Merc” Mercatoris and Councilwoman Sally Sparhawk against it.
After the July 7 meeting, Sewell reiterated his point that paid parking would not be well received without a better way to transport guests, and said that an offer he had made to reduce the price to park at the Two Creeks lot was “off the table.”
Sometime between the two meetings SkiCo rejected the parking agreement, sending it back to the council for consideration.
At yesterday’s meeting, Wilkinson argued for some “express” shuttles from the rodeo lot to the drop-off area near Fanny Hill, and said that skiers who couldn’t find parking when the rodeo lot was full — which was 25 days last ski season — were filling up the numbered lots at the expense of Snowmass Villagers whose taxes pay for those parking lots.
“We need to pull vehicles off the road, and also increase transit,” said Wilkinson.
Mercatoris said it wasn’t appropriate to have any riders on the agreement, but also brought up SkiCo’s offer to charge less for the Two Creeks lot in order to relieve the pressure on the rodeo lot.
The council voted 3-1, with Wilkinson dissenting (and Mordkin absent), to redo the parking agreement with no charge at the rodeo lot, and a sliding scale fee to increase use of Two Creeks. It will make the final decision to accept the parking agreement at its next meeting.
The town attorney urged the council to begin discussions about any different parking ideas for the 2009/2010 ski season as soon as possible, as the general feeling is that parking won’t remain free at the rodeo lot forever.
lutz@aspendailynews.com
