Preferred parking FE vehicles and VIP parking

Hi Maria,

I have not had direct experience with VIP FE parking however I would guess that the preference would be to have all FE vehicles as the same amount of "preferred" for all employees. I would also assume that as long as you are calculating the VIP population separately for the overall population, 5% for each, then you are fine. For garages, I've gotten preferred parking that is stacked on all levels closest to the entrances approved for preferred so you can split FE parking between multiple floors. I'd focus on the intent and whether you are meeting it.

I ran across this CIR while looking for another issue and it seems to be relevant to your situation ......

ID#10206 made on 07/01/2012

We submitted a hotel project, which provides preferred parking spaces on all levels closest to the elevator. We got denied by the reviewer per ruling 10202. The reviewer has required all preferred spaces to be on the ground level:

Preferred parking spaces in a garage are those that are the shortest combined driving distance from the parking garage entrance and walking distance to the project building's main entrance(s). While locating ADA accessible parking spaces adjacent to elevators on multiple levels of a parking garage may be preferred for mobility/access reasons, these are not always considered preferred within SSc4.3 and 4.4 for carpool or low-emitting/fuel-efficient vehicle users. These spaces should be located on the main vehicle entrance level.

We submitted a mixed-use office project, providing preferred parking spaces on all levels of the garage closest to the elevator. We were also denied by the reviewer per ruling 10202. Our reviewer also required all preferred spaces to be on the level nearest the building entrance, in our case Level B1.
Here is the reviewers response:

Preferred spaces are those spaces located closest to the main entrance of the project (exclusive of spaces designed for handicapped). Preferred parking spaces in a garage are those that are the shortest combined driving distance from the parking garage entrance and walking distance to the project building's main entrance(s). While locating ADA accessible parking spaces adjacent to elevators on multiple levels of a parking garage may be preferred for mobility/access reasons, these are not always considered preferred within SSc4.3 and 4.4 for carpool or low-emitting/fuel-efficient vehicle users and therefore, these spaces should be located on the main entrance level. Provide a narrative with a detailed description of the building occupants' parking needs which are unique to this project.

We received this comment for all our projects that included multiple parking levels; each time we had to show that the combined driving and walking distances - garage entrance to parking, parking to building entrances - and demonstrated that the selected preferred parking spaces were indeed the shortest.
It may be that your preferred spaces already meet the "most convenient" criterion, but if you have not demonstrated that this is so, you will probably receive this comment.
This can be quite a tedious exercise, but not difficult.
Good luck!