Dillon will not charge for parking at the Dillon Marina Lot, Dillon Amphitheater Lot or along Lodgepole Street this summer as the town had initially announced.

The Dillon Town Council discussed a proposed parking program last Wednesday, May 8, during a specially scheduled meeting. Details of the parking plan were published last month on ParkDillon.com.

“People are very concerned about paid parking, especially in the town core,” Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson said at the meeting. “They feel — and don’t take this the wrong way — they feel there is a lack or need or desire or that because there is no traction in the town core right now.”

Under the proposed parking program, the first 30 minutes would have been free at the Dillon Marina Lot, Dillon Amphitheater Lot and along Lodgepole Street. Then it would have cost between $1.25 and $12 per half hour on weekdays and $2.50 and $15 per half hour on weekends and holidays. There would have been a three-hour limit to free parking in the town core and a Marina Season Parking Pass for $99.

During paid performances at the Dillon Amphitheater, the program also proposed instituting reserved parking, costing up to $50, at the Amphitheater Lot and along Lodgepole Street. The Town Council members appeared ready to keep this part of the parking program.

Several town of Dillon staff members weighed in. Dillon Marina Director Craig Simson said he was worried that the hourly parking fees could become “an obstacle” at the marina. Simson said the fees could impact the marina’s ability to deliver quality service to its users and the number of customers who come to the tiki bar before an amphitheater show.

Dillon Recreation and Events Director Jessie Klehfoth said that hourly fees at the Amphitheater Lot could impact people’s willingness to attend events, such as free shows or yoga nights, lined up for this summer. 

But Klehfoth added that when the town piloted reserved parking during paid amphitheater shows last year, it helped create a managed program that increased safety with fewer cars circulating in proximity to pedestrians.

Meanwhile, Dillon Public Works Director Scott O’Brien said that he worried that the three-hour parking limit in the town core is not necessary and would result in people not, for example, enjoying the farmers market before going to lunch or walking to the marina to rent a boat.

When polled by Dillon Mayor Carolyn Skowyra, a majority of the Town Council members agreed that the hourly paid parking, the three-hour free parking limit in the town core and the $99 marina season pass were all unnecessary.

“Adding these fees, to me, these are hurdles or deterrents for people visiting Dillon,” Skowyra said. “… I want to encourage and remove any roadblocks for people coming into town, and for me adding another roadblock is antithetical to what we’re trying to do here.”

But Town Council member John Woods said that he is in favor of charging hourly parking fees at the Amphitheater Lot, Marina Lot and along Lodgepole Street, though Dillon residents should be exempt from those fees. Woods said the fees for parking could help raise money for off-site parking elsewhere in town with a shuttle system to the amphitheater for events.

“I hear all these people that are talking about visiting Dillon. They like our free stuff. They like our free shows. They insist on free parking,” Woods said. “All these free amenities that Dillon is providing to our people — not Summit County — our people. I’m trying to create a managed parking program that makes it better for us, not people from Denver.”

The Town Council members also appeared to agree that visitors should be able to pay for reserved parking at the Amphitheater Lot and on Lodgepole Street during paid amphitheater concerts.

After discussing it for more than an hour, the Town Council did not vote on a resolution related to parking at the meeting last week. Instead, Skowyra said because of the major edits that would have to be made to the resolution, it would be best to revise it to reflect the Town Council’s consensus so it can be voted on at the next meeting.