After a long discussion, the city Parks and Recreation Board on Monday delayed a decision on a recommendation regarding the elimination of public parking at the Polo Fields site in Zilker Park.
The board considered but didn't ultimately support a proposal to advise the Austin City Council to direct the Parks and Recreation Department to close parking on the fields except for use as an overflow parking area during advanced scheduled special events, beginning in August.
The recommendation to get rid of most parking on the fields originates with a 2019 Zilker Park Working Group report that found environmental degradation, particularly for critical tree root zones, as a result of heavy public parking use.
Members of the board suggested that the city provide shuttle buses to other, more suitable lots, such as the Butler Landfill. While the city is already providing some free shuttle service to the park from from One Texas Center on Barton Springs Road, providing shuttles to additional lots would require more funding, which is not in the budget already submitted to the City Council for discussion in July. The board ultimately postponed a decision about a recommendation to its July 24 meeting.
