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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010 10 26 skier parking memo revised.pdf
1
 V.A. Resort Planning Memo To: Mauriello Planning Group From: Tom Allender, Resort Planning Director Date: 10/26/10 Re: Effects of Ever Vail on Skier Distribution and Parking 
 
 A. Introduction
 
 This
analysis
was
prepared
by
Vail
Resorts’
Vail/Beaver
Creek
Resort
Planning
Department
 to
evaluate
the
impacts
of
the
Ever
Vail
project
on
skier
numbers,
Vail
portal
utilization,
 and
skier
parking.

The
analysis
utilizes
data
collected
and
reported
by
the
Town
of
Vail
and
 Vail
Resorts
on
existing
conditions
and
parking
trends
in
the
Town
of
Vail.

The
findings
of
 the
analysis
is
that
the
Ever
Vail
project
will
have
a
beneficial
impact
on
skier
parking
and
 enhance
the
overall
mountain/town
experience
of
locals
and
guests.
 
 B. Background
and
Existing
Conditions
 
 Skier
Numbers
 According
to
data
collected
by
Vail
Resort
in
2009
the
day
with
the
most
skiers
(for
the
 purpose
of
this
report,
“skiers”
includes
snowboarders)
on
Vail
Mountain
was
January
10
 (a
Saturday
a
full
week
before
Martin
Luther
King
holiday
on
the
19th)
with
17,100
skiers.

 First
scans
at
the
four
existing
Vail
portals
indicate
the
following
breakdown
of
portal
 usage:
 
 
Golden
Peak

17%
or
2,907
skiers
 
Vail
Village

31%
or
5,301
skiers
 
Lionshead

48%
or
8,208
skiers
 
Cascade
Village
4%
or
684
skiers
 
2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lift
facilities
at
these
portals
have
a
per
hour
capacity
of:
 
 
Golden
Peak

2,400
skiers
per
hour
 
Vail
Village

2,800
skiers
per
hour
 
Lionshead

4,800
skiers
per
hour
 
Cascade
Village
1,800
skiers
per
hour
 
 Peak
morning
lift
utilization
occurs
over
a
2.5‐hour
period;
therefore
each
of
the
portals
is
 operating
in
balance
between
skier
usage
and
lift
capacities.
 
 Parking
Structures
 The
Town
has
two
primary
parking
structures
within
the
Town
of
Vail:

Vail
Village
and
 Lionshead
Parking
Structures.

Land
for
these
parking
structures
was
originally
provided
to
 the
Town
by
Vail
Resorts.

The
Town
issued
bonds
to
construct
these
parking
structures.

 User
fees
and
a
lift
tax
collected
by
the
Town
on
all
lift
tickets
sold
by
Vail
Resorts
are
used
 to
fund
the
operation,
maintenance,
and
debt
service
on
these
parking
structures.


 
 Both
parking
structures
provide
skier
parking
and
also
the
bulk
of
parking
serving
the
 commercial
square
footage
of
the
Villages.

In
Vail
Village,
the
parking
structure
also
 provides
parking
for
many
of
the
residential
and
lodge
uses
that
were
constructed
without
 Golden
Peak
 Vail
Village
 Lionshead
 Cascade
 17%
 31%
48%
 4%
 
3
 or
with
limited
on‐site
parking.

So
the
existing
parking
structures
serve
a
mixed‐use
 market
of
skiers,
retail,
and
restaurants,
along
with
residential
and
lodging
uses.
 
 The
Vail
Village
parking
structure
has
a
capacity
of
1,150
parking
spaces
and
the
Lionshead
 parking
structure
has
a
capacity
of
1,250
parking
spaces.
 
 According
to
a
study
conducted
by
RRC
on
behalf
of
the
Town
in
2009,
95
percent
of
the
 vehicles
parking
in
the
Town’s
parking
structures
are
primarily
skiers
and
the
average
 number
of
persons
per
vehicle
was
2.6.
 
 When
these
structures
are
at
capacity,
based
on
this
research
there
is
on
average
of
3,120
 persons
parking
within
the
Vail
Village
parking
structure
and
3,380
persons
parking
within
 the
Lionshead
parking
structure
(assumes
2.6
people
per
car
from
TOV
analysis).
 
 In
the
2008/2009
ski
season,
the
Vail
Village
parking
structure
filled
a
total
of
50
days
out
 of
a
150
day
season
(note
below
that
parking
on
the
frontage
road
resulted
on
24
of
those
 50
days).
 



 Overflow
Parking
on
Frontage
Road
 According
to
studies
conducted
by
the
Town
of
Vail
and
reported
to
the
Town
Council,
in
 the
2008/2009
ski
season
there
were
a
total
of
24
days
when
cars
parked
on
the
Frontage
 Roads
in
Vail.

The
average
number
of
cars
parking
on
the
road
was
355
cars
in
2009.

This
 compares
to
an
average
of
483
cars
parking
on
the
Frontage
Road
in
2000.
 
 Based
on
the
Town’s
analysis
of
2.6
persons
per
car
and
percentage
of
those
parking
that
 are
skiing
(95%),
there
are
877
skiers
resulting
from
the
cars
parked
on
the
Frontage
Road.

 If
we
distributed
these
skiers
that
are
parked
on
the
Frontage
road
to
the
portals
by
their
 reported
preferences,
we
assume
the
following:
 
 
Golden
Peak

88
skiers
(10%)
 
Vail
Village

324
skiers
(37%)
 
Lionshead

324
skiers
(37%)
 
Cascade
Village
140
skiers
(16%)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C. Ever
Vail
Programming
and
Parking
 
 Programming
of
Uses
 The
Ever
Vail
project
includes
the
following
program
(numbers
are
approximate
and
list
 not
comprehensive):
 
 • 12,172
sq.
ft.
of
VRD
recreation
and
DEVO
space
 • 13,293
sq.
ft
of
fresh
food
market
 • 49,660
sq.
ft.
of
on‐site
employee
housing
 • 102
room
Rock
Resorts
hotel
 • 381
dwelling
units
 • 15,695
sq.
ft.
of
restaurant
 • 52,000
sq.
ft.
of
retail
 • 34,669
sq.
ft.
of
office
 • 9,807
sq.
ft.
of
conference/meeting
room

 • 12,620
sq.
ft.
of
spa
including
spa
retail
 • Maintenance
facility
 • Parking
and
Loading
facility
 10%
37%
 37%
16%
 
5
 • Transit/bus
stop
facility
 • New
gondola
 
 Parking
 The
underground
parking
structures
developed
as
part
of
the
Ever
Vail
project
will
serve
 the
same
types
of
uses
as
both
the
Vail
Village
and
Lionshead
Parking
Structures
–
a
mix
of
 uses
including
commercial
uses,
skiers,
and
residential
uses.
 
 The
project
currently
contains
approximately
1,478
parking
spaces,
the
majority
of
which
 are
located
in
sub‐surface
multiple
level
parking
facilities
located
on
both
sides
of
Red
 Sandstone
Creek.

The
general
breakdown
of
parking
spaces
is
(categories
were
rounded):
 
 
Private
residential
+
hotel

513
spaces
 
Commercial/retail


270
spaces
 
Employee
parking
replacement
289
spaces
 
Skier
parking
(excess
of
required)
400
spaces
 
Surplus
parking



7
spaces
 
 While
the
parking
provided
in
Ever
Vail
is
 similar
in
the
mixed
purposes
of
the
Lionshead
 and
Vail
Village
Parking
Structures,
it
also
 contains
parking
for
100%
of
the
residential
 uses.

Of
the
approximately
1,478
parking
 
spaces
proposed,
approximately
670
of
the
 spaces
are
available
to
the
general
public
on
a
 daily
basis
to
accommodate
skiers
and
 shoppers,
similar
to
the
Town’s
parking
 structures.
 


 Gondola
Operation
 The
new
Ever
Vail
gondola
will
be
a
high‐speed
 gondola
with
cabins
holding
up
to
8
occupants.

 The
new
gondola
will
have
the
capacity
of
 moving
2,000
skiers
per
hour.

The
gondola
 will
transport
skiers
to
the
top
of
the
mountain
 at
Eagle’s
Nest
but
will
also
have
a
upload
and
 download
location
at
the
current
base
of
chair
 26
(Pride
Express).

Chair
26
will
be
removed
 to
accommodate
the
new
gondola.

To
return
to
 Ever
Vail,
skiers
will
be
able
download
the
 gondola
at
this
location
for
a
3.5‐minute
ride
 back
to
Ever
Vail.

 
 Turn
Station
 Ever
Vail
 
6
 D. Population,
Parking,
and
Portal
Effects
from
Ever
Vail
 
 Ever
Vail
Population
 The
Ever
Vail
project
will
have
an
effect
on
parking
characteristics
and
portal
usage
within
 the
Town.

Using
the
table
below,
with
assumptions
about
occupancy
derived
from
historic
 M‐Trip
reports,
skier
participation
from
surveys
and
using
the
same
assumptions
derived
 from
the
Town’s
studies,
we
find
that
the
Ever
Vail
project
will
produce
a
peak
population
 of
2,416
persons
and
a
related
skier
population
of
923.

These
numbers
are
derived
from
 the
bed
base
being
proposed
in
Ever
Vail
including
dwelling
units,
employee
housing
units,
 and
hotel
rooms.

 
 
 
 
 
 Parking
Impacts
of
Ever
Vail
 
 Based
upon
data
developed
by
the
Town
of
Vail
in
2009,
there
was
an
average
of
355
cars
 parked
on
the
Frontage
Road
for
a
total
of
24
days
of
the
ski
season.

The
Ever
Vail
project
 is
providing
400
parking
spaces
for
use
by
the
general
public
above
and
beyond
demand
 created
by
the
Ever
Vail
project.

In
addition,
there
are
270
parking
spaces
available
to
the
 public
for
commercial
uses
located
within
the
project,
for
a
total
of
670
available
parking
 spaces.

Like
the
Vail
Village
and
Lionshead
Parking
Structures,
and
consistent
with
the
 Town’s
recent
parking
study,
95%
of
these
670
spaces
will
likely
be
occupied
by
skiers.
 
 The
additional
400
parking
spaces
are
intended
to
alleviate
the
Frontage
Road
parking
and
 accommodate
the
shifting
parking
demand
created
by
the
new
gondola
as
stated
in
the
 Lionshead
Redevelopment
Master
Plan.

The
addition
of
these
400
parking
spaces,
plus
the
 additional
270
retail
spaces,
accommodates
the
average
need
of
355
cars
parked
on
the
 Frontage
Road.

In
fact,
considering
the
entire
670
total
available
parking
spaces,
this
 parking
facility
accommodates
all
but
two
days
of
overflow
parking
as
documented
in
 2009,
which
were
715
and
688
cars
parking
on
the
Frontage
Road.


 
 Portal
Effects
of
Ever
Vail
 One
of
the
effects
of
removing
cars
from
the
Frontage
Road
and
placing
them
in
the
Ever
 Vail
below
grade
parking
facilities
will
be
the
distribution
of
skiers
to
the
various
Town
 portals.

As
stated
previously,
there
were
an
estimated
877
skiers
in
355
cars
(on
average)
 that
are
distributed
throughout
Vail.

Some
assumptions
were
made
about
which
portal
 those
skiers
would
use
based
upon
their
location
along
the
Frontage
Road.

These
skiers
 are
spread
across
the
various
portals.

Based
on
removing
these
cars
from
the
Frontage
 Road
we
have
to
reduce
the
number
of
skiers
using
each
portal
and
assume
those
skiers
are
 now
in
Ever
Vail
parking
facilities.

Below
is
the
resulting
distribution
of
skiers
at
the
 various
portals
to
Vail
Mountain
(modeling
Jan.
10,
2009):
 
 
Golden
Peak

16%
or
2,819
skiers
 
Vail
Village

28%
or
4,977
skiers
 
7
 
Lionshead

44%
or
7,884
skiers
 
Ever
Vail

10%
or
1,800
skiers
(bed
base
+
frontage
road
skiers)
 Cascade
Village
3%
or
544
skiers
 
 The
estimated
skier
number
with
the
addition
of
Ever
Vail,
modeling
Jan
10,
2009
would
be
 18,024.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 E. Mountain
Effects
from
Ever
Vail
Gondola
 Based
on
the
above
analysis
the
following
changes
would
occur
to
skier
populations
of
the
 various
portals.
 
 Golden
Peak


‐88
skiers

 
Vail
Village

‐324

 
Lionshead

‐324

 
Ever
Vail

+1,800
 Cascade
Village
‐140

 
 For
this
discussion,
it
can
be
assumed
that
the
Cascade
Village
and
Lionshead
skiers
are
 going
to
Eagle
Nest
resulting
in
an
increase
in
the
Eagles
Nest
population
of
1,336
(1,800‐ 324‐140).


 
 
 16%
 27%
44%
 3%
 10%
 Lionshead
 Cascade
 Ever
Vail
 Vail
Village
 Golden
Peak
 
8
 These
skiers
could
then
be
re‐distributed
between
the
following
lifts:
 
 
 The
majority
of
the
increased
Eagles
Nest
skier
population
will
choose
either
Chair
2
or
7
 when
leaving
Eagle
Nest.

While
these
two
lifts
are
currently
at
a
high
level
of
utilization,
an
 additional
283
skiers
represents
one
tenth
of
the
lifts
capacity
of
Chair
2.

It
should
be
 noted
that
the
increase
in
the
number
of
skiers
at
Chair
2
is
somewhat
overstated.

Some
 percentage
of
the
324
skiers
removed
from
the
Vail
Village
portal
(due
to
removing
parking
 from
the
Frontage
Road
and
that
are
now
assumed
as
using
the
Ever
Vail
portal)
and
that
 end
up
at
Chair
2,
would
have
arrived
there
from
Mid
Vail
anyway
(i.e.,
arriving
at
Mid
Vail
 and
skiing
down
to
Chair
2).

Additionally
as
Chair
2
has
a
large
transportation
component,
 skier
density
on
the
associated
trails
is
not
anticipated
to
change
noticeably.
 
 F. Summary
of
Benefits
and
Effects
to
Skier
Parking
 
 The
Ever
Vail
project
as
proposed
will
have
very
little
effect
on
the
number
of
skiers
 visiting
the
various
portals
to
Vail
Mountain
but
will
result
in
a
significant
reduction
in
the
 number
of
vehicles
parked
along
the
Frontage
Roads.

Based
on
the
current
parking
 capacities
proposed
in
Ever
Vail
there
is
only
one
day
that
cars
may
be
present
on
the
 Frontage
Roads
based
upon
the
experience
in
2009.


 
 The
town’s
capacity
for
parking
increases
from
the
2,400
current
parking
availability
in
 Lionshead
and
Vail
Village
to
3,100,
a
22%
increase
over
what
exists
today.

This
does
not
 include
the
other
increases
in
parking
supply
coming
on‐line
in
the
Town
which
include
 100
private
parking
club
spaces
in
Arrabelle,
the
125
private
club
parking
spaces
at
the
 Front
Door,
and
the
250
quasi‐public
parking
spaces
within
the
Solaris
project.

 
 G. Effects
on
Manage­To
Number
 
 By
agreement
with
the
Town
of
Vail
and
the
Forest
Service,
Vail
Mountain
operates
with
a
 “manage‐to”
number
of
19,900
skiers.

In
the
last
30
years.
The
manage‐to
number
was
 exceeded
three
times:

in
2001
by
239
skiers;
in
2004
by
394
skiers;
and
in
2007
by
367
 skiers.


 
 Using
Jan.
10,
2009
as
the
model,
it
is
anticipated
that
Ever
Vail
would
increase
the
number
 of
skiers
on
the
mountain
to
18,024;
well
within
the
established
manage‐to
number.

 LIFT
Percentage
Distribution
Over
2.5
Hrs
Utilization
 Ever
Vail
Gondola
5
67
27
Low
 Lionshead
Gondola
3
40
16
High
 Chair
8
1
13
5
Low
 Chair
15
5
67
27
Med
 Vista
Bahn
3
40
16
Med
 Chair
6
1
13
5
Low
 Chair
7
29
388
155
High
 Chair
2
53
708
283
High