Vail summer parking will be $25 per night

Vail’s summer parking program is still a work in progress.

The town in 2018 implemented a charge for overnight summer parking in the structures to cut back on use of the structures for storage during that season.

Vail Public Works Director Greg Hall recently told the Vail Town Council that charging for overnight parking took roughly 200 cars out of the structures.

Charging for overnight summer parking continued in 2018 and 2019, but the charge was dropped during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A $35 per night charge was imposed in 2021. Overnight parking charges this year resume June 13. This year’s charge is $25 per night. The same charge will apply to oversized vehicles parking in West Vail. Those vehicles can stay up to five days.

Other changes are coming due to the town switching to a new parking control system in its structures.

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One of the things going away is the vouchers that previously were given to lodges and condo complexes that don’t have parking of their own. Hall said those vouchers were costing the town nearly $300,000 per summer.

While the vouchers are going away, the town continues free overnight parking for those who have over-indulged. People have to go to the welcome center in the Vail Village parking structure by 11 a.m. the next morning.

Instead of the vouchers, town officials have proposed a new pass for summer overnight parking in the Vail Village and Lionshead structures. That won’t happen this year, since the town’s parking pass sales office at Vail Town Hall isn’t open in the summer.

Daytime summer parking remains free, but Council member Jonathan Staufer asked Hall if the town could possibly charge a “nominal” fee for daytime use.

“We know how much it would take to move (summer parking fees) forward,” Hall said, adding that charging for daytime parking may happen in 2023. But, he said, that’s a matter for public comment and, ultimately, a recommendation from the Vail Parking and Transportation Task Force.

Council member Kevin Foley asked Hall if the new system will provide more data about motorists’ use of the structure. That will happen, Hall said.

So, enjoy the free summers while they last.