Breckenridge officials are considering the future of free parking for skiers in town

Breckenridge will have to relocate the free overflow parking for skiers on Airport Road within the next few years, and city staff say it will likely be one of the last years there will be free parking at the Airport Road lot.

A About 100 units will be developed, called “Runway”, built on top of the current plot, construction of which is expected to be completed in 2028. The city has been exploring options for the overflow parking lot’s new home since July, and now officials think they’ve found it. Still, not all officials could get behind the proposal discussed at the Nov. 12 Breckenridge City Council meeting.

Employees want to build a new plot on the McCain Package at Coyne Valley Road and Colorado Highway 9 near the entrance to the city.

This image, presented at the Breckenridge City Council meeting on Nov. 12, 2024, shows where parking could occur on the McCain lot. To the west of the plot is a river corridor and open space. There is also open space to the south of the proposed plot.

Mayor Kelly Owens, Councilmember Carol Saade and Councilmember Todd Rankin generally showed their support. Council members Dick Carleton and Jay Beckerman wanted to move the vote to a later date. Councilors Steve Gerard and Marika Page were absent.

A proposal to move the parking lot to McCain first came before officials in July and was met with concerns from most council members. City staff returned to council Tuesday with an updated proposal that addressed some concerns. The new proposal moves the lot further north on the McCain lot and reduces the number of parking spaces from 500 to 350.

Project manager Rick Holman said data shows the 500 spots on the Airport Road site are only full about a dozen times a year. He said the city wants to rely on a potential parking partnership being negotiated between Breckenridge Ski Resort and Colorado Mountain College to account for the busiest days of the season. Crews said a portion of the lot designated for snow storage could also occasionally serve as a parking lot.

A staff memo for the meeting said city staff discussed shifting the use of the lot to a “true overflow, used only on the busiest days.”

City Manager Shannon Haynes said the lot will be vacant at this time.

The memo notes that the ski area plans to gradually test and implement changes related to carpool discounts, reservations and possible on-demand changes to prices at the south gondola site once the north site is full. Holman added that there are also discussions about possible flexible midweek pricing for parking.

Holman said there may be some changes in the near future, but Breckenridge Ski Resort is not yet “ready to say we are not going to have a free option.”

Employees hope these efforts will reduce the use of overcrowded parking lots, eliminating the need to use a free shuttle service on weekdays when it isn’t too busy.

The parking lot will likely not have lighting as employees do not recommend it. And it is still unclear what the plot can be used for in the summer.

Carleton, who had the strongest opposition to the proposal, said he felt now was not the time to vote. He said the city is in discussions with several entities, including the school district and the ski area, and he thinks “we just need to take a little more time for some of these discussions to come to fruition.”

Beckerman shared a similar sentiment, advising officials to “take the pause and postpone (the decision).”

Carleton also raised concerns about impacts to open space on the McCain parcel, which includes a river corridor on its western portion.

“We’ve been so excited about (this becoming open space) for the last five years … the impacts that these kinds of things have (on the western part of the property) haven’t even been discussed, and we need to think about that very carefully,” he said .

One benefit that many council members appreciated was that the cost of the move was only $5,000. Since the site has already been developed and prepared with crushed rocks, there is not much more work to be done, which drastically reduces costs. The initial proposal to move the parking lot to McCain, which would place the lot in the undeveloped southeastern part of the parcel, came with a price tag of $500,000. Saade said based on the “low price” she was willing to commit to the proposal during the meeting.

Holman said another plus of the proposed location is that it will allow for better traffic flow on the nearby busy roundabout at Fairview Boulevard compared to the original proposal.

The other option on the table was keeping the parking lot on Airport Road and moving it north of Upper Blue Elementary. Staff said this would have been difficult to program given the 100-unit development coming online.

Officials said discussions on the issue will continue.