City of South Lake Tahoe parking enforcement begins at Village Center and Stateline
Submitted by paula on Fri, 04/08/2022 - 12:07pm
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - In January we wrote about the upcoming parking management program heading to the Stateline area of South Lake Tahoe. That new program began on April 1 in the Village Center (where Raley's is located) shopping area adjacent to Heavenly Village.
Parking by people not patronizing Village Center but walking across the street to Heavenly Village has been a problem since redevelopment created the new hub with restaurants, shopping, the gondola, and events. No parking spots would be available for customers of Raley's and the other Village Center shops. Litigation between the City of South Lake Tahoe and Tahoe Crescent LLC, the owner of the Village Center, brought about the new Parking Ambassador Program at Stateline.
The new program brought about the necessity for the South Lake Tahoe Police Department to hire new Community Services Officers (CSO) to help manage the parking needs and enforcement in the Village Center lots, the City’s parking garage on Bellamy Court, and the paid on-street parking on Bellamy Court and Transit Way. Their jobs will be to circulate through the area and enforce parking rules.
New "2-Hour Parking" signs have been installed in the Village Center lot, which will be enforced by the CSOs. The new signs are posted at all entrances and in the parking lot. Violations of the 2-hour parking maximum in Village Center are subject to a $200 ticket.
To help people navigate the area and find parking, new wayfinding signs will be posted on US 50 and Heavenly Village Way to direct people needing to park longer than two hours to the City's parking garage. This garage provides a convenient and secure location to park vehicles for longer durations along with special evening parking for just $5. In addition, the Village Center has long-term paid parking behind Raley’s.
These changes are the result of the settlement agreement and recommendations from a parking management report prepared by Dixon Resources Unlimited. The changes are intended to improve the customer’s parking experience in Heavenly Village by ensuring adequate parking is available for customers of the Village Center, while visitors needing to park longer than two hours are directed to appropriate, paid parking.
City Council on Tuesday approved hiring a company to evaluate the parking garage and start implementing new safety guidelines for inside, and a payment system that is easier to use. That company will also provide suggestions for operations in the future.