Breckenridge will need to relocate the free overflow skier parking on Airport Road within the next couple years, and town staff members say its likely one of the last years free parking is on the Airport Road lot.

An approximate 100 unit development, dubbed “Runway,” will be built on top of the current lot with construction slated to wrap by 2028. Since July, the town has been exploring options for overflow parking’s new home, and now staff members think they have found it. Yet, not all officials could get behind the proposal that was discussed at the Nov. 12 Breckenridge Town Council meeting.

Staff members want to build a new lot on the McCain parcel off of Coyne Valley Road and Colorado Highway 9 near the entrance of town.

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

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

Project manager Rick Holman said data shows the 500 spots at the Airport Road lot are only full a dozen or so times a year. He said the town is looking to rely on a potential parking partnership being negotiated between Breckenridge Ski Resort and Colorado Mountain College to account for the season’s busiest days. Staff members said a part of the land parcel designated for snow storage could also serve as parking on occasion. 

A staff memo for the meeting states town staff members have discussed shifting the usage of the lot to be “true overflow, only used on the busiest days.” 

Town manager Shannon Haynes said, at this time, the lot is planned to be free. 

The memo notes that the ski resort plans to gradually test and implement changes related to carpooling discounts, reservations and potential on-demand changes to pricing in the South Gondola lot once the North lot fills. Holman added there are conversations about potential flexible midweek pricing for parking as well. 

Holman said while there might be some changes in the near future, Breckenridge Ski Resort isn’t “ready to say ‘we’re not going to have a free option.'”

Staff members hope these efforts will allow for overflow parking to be utilized less often so the need to run a free shuttle on weekdays is eliminated when its not overly busy.   

The lot likely won’t have lights, as staff members aren’t recommending it. And what the lot could be used for in the summertime is undetermined.

Carleton, who had the strongest opposition against the proposal, said he felt now wasn’t the time to vote. He said the town is in discussions with different entities, including the school district and the ski resort, and he thinks “we just need to take a little more time to let some of these discussions go to fruition.” 

Beckerman shared a similar sentiment and recommended officials “pump the breaks and postpone (the decision).”

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

“We have been so excited about (this becoming open space) for the last five years … the impacts that this kind of thing has (on the western part of the parcel) hasn’t even been discussed, and we very much need to think about that,” he said.

One draw many council members appreciated was the cost of the move being only $5,000. Since the site is already developed and prepped with crushed rocks, not much more work would need to be done to it, which brings down the cost drastically. The first proposal to move parking to McCain, which would have put the lot at the undeveloped southeast of the parcel, came with a $500,000 price tag. Saade said based on the “low price point” she was ready to commit to the proposal at the meeting.

Holman said another plus of the proposed site is its location makes for better traffic flow at the nearby busy roundabout off of Fairview Boulevard compared to the original proposal.

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

Officials said discussions around the matter will continue.