Columbia Regional Airport proposes new ordinance for long-term parking
Erika McGuire
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Regional Airport is taking steps to prevent vehicles from being left in airport parking lots for extended periods, a problem that has limited available spaces for legitimate travelers.
“We’ve had vehicles with flat tires and vehicles that have been sitting out there for long periods of time that we’ve observed,” Michael Parks, Columbia Regional Airport Manager, said.
According to Parks, an increase in travelers at COU is one of the main reasons the parking issue has grown.
Airport staff have been doing regular vehicle counts to monitor which cars are actively used by travelers — and which ones may be sitting idle for too long, Parks said.
The ordinance, proposed to the City of Columbia, would require travelers who plan to leave their vehicles at the airport for 30 days or more to complete a form prior to traveling.
The form would include the vehicle’s make and model, where it will be parked, and the expected time the traveler plans to be gone.
Airport officials say this will help them monitor long-term parking and ensure vehicles parked at the COU airport are associated with travelers and travelers only.
“We want to make sure that spaces are available. We’ve seen vehicles stored out here in the past, and really this ordinance change is going to allow us some mechanism to watch for those vehicles that are not associated with customers that are flying in and out of the airport and have that ability to have those vehicles removed from the area,” Parks said.
“If a traveler plans on staying a longer period of time, this ordinance really doesn’t prohibit that. It really is just going to create the ability for us to track those vehicles,” He added.
According to the Columbia City Council memo, parking at the airport for more than 24 hours is prohibited unless they are flying out of the airport.
Traveler Cynthia Bentzen-Mercer is a frequent traveler and relies on COU. She says the ordinance is a step in the right direction.
“It’s so much better for people to fill out a form and have to be fined for them to start charging for parking, which might be the alternative,” Bentz-Mercer said. ‘I think that’s really taking advantage of a great thing, we have this great little regional airport, we can park for free. It’s such a benefit, but if people are leaving their cars here, that’s frustrating.”
The parking lot at COU holds 1,100 parking spaces and is free for travelers.
Travelers who leave a vehicle for more than 30 days without submitting the required form could face daily fines, Parks said.
The Columbia City Council is set to take up the proposed ordinance at its meeting Tuesday evening.
United Airlines is joining COU with three additional flights, after a four-year hiatus. The airline will offer two flights to Chicago and one flight to Denver. The first flight will take off on Sept. 25th.