HERRIMAN, Utah — Pat Fleming and Larry Josie have noticed Blackridge Reservoir explode in popularity in their ten years living in their Herriman neighborhood.
“I call it ‘The parade’ on the weekends because cars are just coming in and circling, trying to find a parking spot,” said Fleming.
Starting this week, the city is requiring 15 dollars to park in the lot on weekends and holidays until September 7.
“It's causing some problems, just having too many people there,” said Jonathan LaFollette, Communications Manager for Herriman City. “This was an effort mostly to reduce the amount of people who are at Blackridge Reservoir during the highest use times, during the peak times, and there are no perfect solutions. This is the answer we're going with for this year. We'll see how it goes.”
The city has also increased fines from 25 dollars to a minimum of $100 to discourage people from parking illegally on residential streets.
“The main purpose is not to stuff the city's pockets with more money,” said LaFollette. “The main purpose is to kind of spread out the crowds a little bit more throughout the week, while still allowing people to go use the trails there and the reservoir.”
Residents are still skeptical the fee will deter people from flocking to Blackridge; the parking is first-come, first-serve, no reservations.
“I don't think it's gonna stop people from coming,” said Fleming. “$15 is not that much. I've been offered more than that to let people park in my driveway.”
Fleming and Josie are optimistic that this summer might be a little less crazy than it’s been in recent years.
“If you come here, you know there's a problem, and if you live here, you know there's a problem, and so this will just be a new solution, and we'll see how it works.”
