An interesting transit bill is pending in the Colorado legislature that could have a significant impact on transit oriented developments in the Denver area. Senate Bill 13-027 provides that a public or private entity may lease, own or operate a public parking lot or structure at or near a mass transit station, and that any such parking lot or structure is not considered an RTD “district parking facility” unless that third party and RTD have a contractual agreement regarding the operation of the parking facility that provides RTD shares in the revenues from that facility. Section 32-9-119.9, C.R.S., currently restricts RTD’s ability to charge for parking at “district parking facilities” to those circumstances when someone parks for more than 24 hours, when someone who resides outside the RTD boundaries parks in a district parking facility, or for reserved parking spaces. To carve out these third-party leased, owned or operated parking facilities from the definition of “district parking facility” would effectively allow these third parties to charge for parking in their facilities without restriction. For TOD developers who are faced with building structured parking as part of their projects to support light rail expansion, the ability to charge for parking in these structures would greatly assist in financing the cost of construction. This bill passed on third reading in the Senate and has been assigned to the House Committee on Transportation & Energy.
