ANAHEIM : Parking Fee Hike OKd for Stadium

The City Council has approved increasing the Anaheim Stadium parking fee from $4 to $5 for California Angel baseball games and general events such as religious programs and trade shows.

A city report says the increase will annually raise an additional $250,000 each for the city and the Angels, which split baseball game parking revenue.

The city will earn an additional $110,000 in parking fees from general events, the report said. The city keeps all parking revenue from such events.

Parking fees for Los Angeles Rams football, the Freedom Bowl, the Disneyland Pigskin Classic football game, motor racing and concerts are already $6 and will not be increasing.

“Anybody who follows baseball knows that operating expenses are going up,” Angels spokesman Tim Mead said. “Even with the increase, our parking fee will be among the lowest in the American League.”

Greg Smith, the stadium’s director, said Angel parking fees had not been increased in three years and that this will be only the second increase in nine years.

Smith said the new fee is comparable to other local stadium parking fees and that the additional revenue will offset higher costs.