Snow makes a difference in Parking

I just got off the phone with Charlie Brown of Charlie Brown Airport Parking in Pittsburgh. He told me to call back next week – he had a problem. Snow Snow Snow.

The result of the largest snow fall in history is three feet of snow covering the cars parked in his lot. And he and his crew have to dig them out.

I understand that this is an annual problem with parking lot owners. But those of us in milder climes don't think a lot about it. Not only do they have to clear out the lot so people can get their cars out, they also have to figure out someplace to put the snow. And if they put the snow in open spaces that means that those spaces are no longer available for parking cars, at least until the next thaw.

Snow means loss of money, not only the cost of removing it, but also the loss of rentable space. If a space generates $10 a day and you lose 30 or 40 spaces that are filled with ten foot high piles of snow, well, you do the math.

Good luck Charile and all the rest of your in the snow belt, which I guess streaches from Northern Georgia to the North Pole.

JVH

Comments

[MasonParking]

The loss of spaces due to the snow led us to be creative-using spaces for permit holders that they normally wouldn't have access to-reserved areas, visitor parking. On top of returning to normal parking on campus, had concert and basketball game last week. Fun indeed-glad to see some snow melting as the snow removal was slow given the volume of snow and amount of lots to be cleared.

[Karl Kelman]

I used to work for USAirport Parking in Denver, and, with an 8,000 space lot on the windswept plains near the airport,
we had some real fun with drifts. During the biggest snow storm we had in my time there (The Blizzard of '03), we had
about three feet of snow combined with strong wind. Portions of individual rows of cars literally disappeared. Our plow drivers had to be careful because what looked like a snow drift that needed to be moved might contain a car.

The real headache was the amount of labor it would take to free an indivdual car. Of course, the snow storm happened during Spring Break, ensuring that our lot was fairly full...