The Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) is requesting public input on a proposed parking fee at West Crissy Field – the portion of the Presidio managed by the GGNRA for the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS is proposing to implement a parking fee in lots adjacent to the areas managed by the Presidio Trust – specifically at West Crissy Field – when the Trust implements its own parking fees in this area in 2012.

Background

Charging fees for parking was included in the general plan for the Presidio as a strategy to manage parking, encourage alternative transportation, and to offset the costs of providing transit.

The Presidio Trust is instituting parking fees throughout much of the Presidio. This is consistent with the Trust’s Congressional mandate to be financially self-sufficient by 2013 and with the Presidio’s mandate to incentivize visitors to use public transit and reduce the use of private automobiles.

The Presidio Trust is ready to implement parking fees in their parking areas adjacent to West Crissy Field. This is expected to result in a shift in use to the currently free, NPS-managed Crissy Field visitor lots.

The West Bluff lot is the primary parking area for visitors to West Crissy Field, a popular destination that includes the grassy historic airfield, the West Bluff picnic area and amphitheatre, the Warming Hut, beach and the Bay Trail, and is close to Fort Point. Battery East parking is the next closest NPS visitor lot in this area.

The transformation of Crissy Field into a popular waterfront park destination and the recent successful rehabilitation and leasing of historic buildings by the Presidio Trust at West Crissy Field have led to an increased demand for parking in this area. Trust tenants in this area include Planet Granite, La Petit Baleen, House of Air, the University of San Francisco satellite campus called USF at the Presidio, and Roaring Mouse Bikes.

The time and length of visits to these businesses are very similar to that of visitors to the adjacent open space and the Warming Hut. Free visitor parking spaces in the adjacent NPS lots is expected to become more heavily used by tenants, employees and customers when parking fees are implemented in the lots managed by the Trust. This could significantly limit available parking for visitors to the West Bluff and Warming Hut areas of Crissy Field.

Proposal

The NPS is proposing to implement parking fees at the West Bluff parking lot and the Battery East parking lot at the same time as the Presidio Trust implements parking fees at West Crissy Field. The proposed NPS parking fees would be identical to the Trust’s in order to discourage parking in NPS lots by users and employees of the adjacent businesses, and to ensure there is a conveniently located and adequate parking supply for park visitors. The Trust’s parking rates are $1 per hour and $6 per day.

Other options considered are making no change to NPS parking policies or instituting times limits (such as one-hour or two-hour parking) in NPS-managed lots.

Comment Period Ends Sept. 23

You can provide comments on this parking fee proposal using any of the following methods:
• Online: www.parkplanning.nps.gov/CF_Fee Parking
• By mail: Superintendent, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Building 201 Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA 94123
           
The public comment period on this proposal ends on Sept. 23, 2011.