Angels OK Raising Parking Fee to $4 to Help Repair Lot

Fans of the California Angels who park their cars at Anaheim Stadium may soon have to take another dollar out to the ball park.

After months of hesitation, the Angels’ management Monday agreed to a city proposal to raise the parking fee at Anaheim Stadium by $1, to $4 for the new season, Greg Smith, the city’s stadium manager, said.

“It looks like a green light,” Smith said. “I’m just waiting for written notification.”

Smith said that Michael Schroeder, the Angels’ executive vice president, called him Monday morning and said that the team would go along with the $1 increase.

Raised Ticket Prices

Angels’ management has already raised most ticket prices for the new season, which opens April 4 against the Chicago White Sox. But they were concerned that an increase in parking costs for the same year might be pushing the price of a ball game too high.

Schroeder and Kevin Uhlich, director of operations for the Angels, could not be reached for comment Monday.

The increase, if approved as expected later this month by the Anaheim City Council, could go into effect as soon as March 31, when the Angels play the Dodgers in a preseason game, Smith said.

The parking fee increase would push Anaheim Stadium rates above those for other Southland baseball teams. Both Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego charge $3.

But this would be the first increase for Angel baseball fans in 3 years, Smith said. Parking for Rams games, concerts and motor-sports events already is $5, he said.

Extra $750,000

The boost in parking fees is expected to raise an extra $750,000 a year, money that will go toward repairs of the stadium parking lot, Smith said. More than 700,000 vehicles parked last season at Angels’ games.

Parking fees would also be boosted from $3 to $4 for exhibit-show events at the stadium, such as the Orange County International Auto Show, Smith said.

Smith explained that the fee increases are needed because in some areas, the stadium parking lot is in dire need of repairs--a patch-up job that will cost an estimated $3.1 million over the next few years.

Repairs will begin as soon as possible after the city council has ratified the increase, Smith said.