Theater Square Day Parking Rate To Double? Commuter Utters "B" Word

If you happen to be one of the folks who squeezes their commuter car into a stall under the fabled Orinda Theater you may still be reeling at the news that, starting Tuesday, the day rate for parking there will double from $10 to $20.

Only $16 if you validate. But still... ouch.

Lamorindan John Galt saw the signs go up a week ago and set to coming up with a Plan B -- an end-around to find alternative parking, and to boycott Theater Square.

"Unfortunately, this will effectively kick out the daily parkers," Galt writes. "Most of these were casual commuters, which will severely disrupt the car pools that leave from Theater Square, and drastically exacerbate the parking issues at BART, where the $1 lot already fills up around 7:45 a.m."

John says he tried to secure parking at the busy BART lot as soon as he heard rates at Theater Square were set to double.

"I just went to the BART site to buy one day parking for tomorrow," he said Monday. "They are sold out for the next three days..."

What does that leave him? Well, frustrated and just slightly vengeful.

"Obviously they (building management) can charge whatever they want for parking," he said. "On the other hand, I certainly don't have to support them
with my money. Going forward, I'm going to boycott the businesses of Theater Square and I hope other commuters affected by this change will do the same."

Neither Douglas Parking, which manages the underground parking facility at Theater Square, or the site's property manager could be reached to give their reason for the uptick.

Galt says he understands the "big picture" behind the increase, but that he resents the short notice commuter parkers were given.

"...they finally have a few tenants and they are running out of parking," he says. "I just don't like the way they handled it... giving commuters one week's notice before brusquely kicking them to the curb."

If you park there Tuesday, let us know how things go.