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ARLINGTON — Cowboy fans who want to get to the game early — but still have some of the creature comforts — would be allowed to park their RVs near the new stadium under a plan being proposed by the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers will go before the Arlington City Council on Tuesday to request turning the former Stonegate Pines mobile home park into a grassy parking lot for RVs and other vehicles.The Rangers bought the mobile home park in 2007 to turn it into parking for the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and Cowboys Stadium. The football and baseball teams have a shared parking agreement.The 18-acre site sits near Johnson Creek southeast of the football stadium and would have access either off Stadium Drive or Sanford Drive, said Bruce Payne, the city’s community development and planning assistant director. The team has not submitted plans to the city yet that show how many spaces could be added.The plans are to reinforce the ground with a meshlike material that would support the weight of the vehicles while allowing the grass to grow and water to be absorbed. The Cowboys have similar pervious parking areas designed to reduce storm-water runoff.If approved, overnight parking could be allowed at that lot, and tailgating would be allowed on the perimeters of other lots, city officials said.Other parking issuesBusinesses surrounding the Cowboys Stadium who want to cash in on entertainment venue parking will have to pay the city first. The council is also expected to vote Tuesday on a new ordinance that would require lot operators to obtain an annual permit before being allowed to charge people to park on private property.The ordinance also outlines requirements, such as prominently posting prices, having liability insurance and providing a parking plan to the city for approval, which entrepreneurial parking lot operators will have to follow. Businesses near Rangers Ballpark have been operating cash parking lots for years. But with the opening of the $1.15 billion Cowboys Stadium, city officials have concerns about fans being taken advantage of by price gouging or having their vehicles towed from unauthorized locations.Annual permitsDuring the stadium’s inaugural event June 6, city officials said they saw multiple cash lots, where fans could have been towed for parking illegally, such as on the grass or even on city property. Under the new ordinance, commercial parking would be allowed only at active businesses and institutions, such as churches, and would not be allowed in residential areas or at vacant commercial properties.Lots must be paved, striped and lit, and the city would allow temporary lighting equipment to meet the requirements. The annual permit fees would cost between $150 and $400.
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