The Garden City Parks & Recreation Commission approved new rental and parking fees for spaces at the Radcliffe Center and set a teen fitness membership that requires an accompanying adult, the commission said Oct. 28.

Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt a standardized rental-rate chart for room rentals and to approve a parking-lot rental schedule and vendor-event fee after staff presented a revised fee schedule intended to simplify pricing across similar rooms. The commission also approved a teen fitness add-on membership and removed a proposed family (center) membership from today’s approvals; all motions passed by voice vote, 8-0.

Why it matters: The changes are intended to make Radcliffe Center room prices easier for renters to compare, increase rentals of underused rooms, generate modest revenue from large parking areas and formalize a teen membership that keeps teens in the facility under adult supervision.

What the commission approved and how the votes went:

- Rental-rate chart: The commission approved the room rental pricing as presented by staff, which organizes weekday nonresident rates into three tiers to reduce price discrepancies across similar rooms. Motion carried by voice vote, 8-0.

- Parking-lot fees: The commission approved a proposal to rent large parking-lot space to contractors at $1 per square foot per month (with a contract minimum to be set) and to charge $500 per day for vendor/event use of the south parking lot. Motion carried by voice vote, 8-0. Staff said likely renters include utility contractors and vendors; contracts will require liability insurance, construction fencing and month-to-month terms.

- Teen fitness membership and related changes: The commission adopted a teen fitness add-on requiring an associated adult membership for users ages 13–17 and agreed to remove the proposed family/center membership from approval at this meeting. The commission directed staff to set teen rates equivalent to the senior rate. The motion passed by voice vote, 8-0.

Discussion, direction and next steps: Commissioners and staff discussed a number of fee-design details that were not voted on but were directed to staff for implementation:

- Drop-in pricing and punch cards: Staff presented drop-in fees for several Radcliffe spaces (Spaceport, open gym, fitness room, movie theater) and proposed a punch-card bundle. Commissioners expressed support for simplifying resident pricing and discussed a flat resident drop-in price around $3 across most rooms to reduce confusion. A unified punch-card that covers multiple rooms (buy 10, get 3 free — 13 visits) gained support in discussion; staff used the example of $30 for 13 resident visits and $60 for 13 nonresident visits as illustrative pricing. The commission did not make a formal motion on these specific drop-in prices but directed staff to finalize the recommendation and return with details.

- Room-rental rationale: Staff told the commission the rental tiers were chosen after comparing similar facilities and to address cases where similarly sized rooms (for example, the heritage room and the card room) had sharply different rates that discouraged rentals of the higher-priced room.

- Contract terms for parking-lot renters: Staff said temporary renters will need insurance, orange construction fencing and written agreements limiting use to a temporary month-to-month term rather than long-term storage.

Quotes: Erica (staff member) summarized the rental-rate rationale: “The card room does hold more. The card room does obviously, it had a lot more money go into it and making it through the grant funding. ... I think having those three levels, the 50, 60, and a 100 fit better for the space and the rooms we have available.” Commissioners repeatedly voiced concern about simplicity: “If everything’s $3 across the board, then it makes it simple,” one commissioner said during discussion.

Background details and clarifications: Staff said Spaceport currently charges a $5 resident drop-in and a $20 monthly membership; about 15 Spaceport memberships are active. Staff also said open gym usage varies and the movie theater has not been fully programmed. The proposed punch-card example discussed in the meeting would give 13 visits for the price of 10 and could be sold in advance or purchased on arrival.

What’s next: Staff will finalize the recommended drop-in and punch-card pricing based on the commission’s direction, implement the approved rental-rate chart and parking-lot fee policy, prepare contracts for temporary parking-lot renters and return to the commission with follow-up data as requested (for example, a six-month rentals report).