First move. By 2026, a “rain garden” will replace the current car park at the SNCF station. A project costing €2 million to come, on a surface area of 2,860m2, “de-waterproof the soil and revegetate the areas” recalls the president of the CAPG and mayor of Grasse, Jérôme Viaud.
If, a priori, everyone is happy, a major concern (again expressed by local residents during the public consultation, completed on November 8): what solution to replace the 139 free spaces in the SNCF parking lot (work begins in 2025) ?
The remedy found by the agglomeration: encourage local residents, particularly those in adjoining residences, Valmy and Val de Provence, to use the parking lot next to the multimodal hub. An infrastructure whose “Court of Auditors had highlighted the explosion in the cost [de 7 à 11 Me]for a parking lot that is generally almost empty”, did not fail to highlight Paul Euzière (Grasse à Tous).
“Unacceptable”
Indeed little frequented, the site, dedicated to multimodality and, thus, free for holders of a transport ticket (bus, train), must therefore serve as a “palliative” to the SNCF car park.
Except that, for “general public” users, it is not free. So, to lure the customer, the CAPG has just decreed that the first hour of parking would now be free.
“Unacceptable” Paul Euzière slices. Who has been demanding, as for months: “One hour is clearly insufficient. Multimodal parking must be free. It would then have a function and a utility that it has never had…”
Granting a “statement of failure” on the use of the multimodal site, Jérôme Viaud nevertheless supports: “There is a free hour and subscriptions too, which are not expensive at all. We cannot do everything for free, there is a payroll, watchmen on site. There, we have the car safe inside, it’s video-monitored.”
“The pricing is not fixed”
The president thus assures that this is a first step: “The pricing is not fixed, a regulation changes. Of the 220 parking spaces, 100 will remain dedicated to multimodality and 120 for local residents. I remain open to the debate to work at a resident rate and find the right one balance, so that local residents and the agglomeration can find their way. But we have to start with something…”
The opposition was not convinced since Magali Conesa and Paul Euzière (Grasse à Tous) abstained, while Stéphane Cassarini (Grasse) voted against this new pricing.
Who pays how much?
Although it welcomes all types of users, the Grasse multimodal car park does not require the same financial effort. Created for this purpose, it logically favors public transport users. For train or bus subscribers, everything is free, all the time (apart from the €5 for the parking card). For occasional users, same thing, except for one detail: it’s free from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. for only seven consecutive nights (instead of three weeks). Then, it will be 3€ per additional night.
For general public users, it is now one hour free, increasing to €0.50 per 15 minutes during daytime hours (7 a.m. – 8 p.m.). For the night package (8 p.m. – 7 a.m.), it will cost you €3.
Finally, three types of subscription:
daytime (8 a.m. – 6 p.m.) at €29 per month, €80 per quarter or €250 per year; night time (6 p.m. – 8 a.m.) and weekend at €19 per month, €50 per quarter and €150 per year; “non-stop” (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) at €35 per month, €100 per quarter and €350 per year.
Do you prefer the castle car park in Mouans-Sartoux?
Jealous of the neighbor? If Paul Euzière finds this proposal for a free hour “unacceptable”this is for two reasons: the replacement of total free access, therefore. And then, there is Mouans, which owns the CAPG’s other community car park, that of the Château. “The one in Grasse would be paying, but the one in Mouans-Sartoux is freethe Grasse elected official is moved. In the name of what equality between the inhabitants of our urban community?”
Obviously, Pierre Aschieri does not let it pass. “Parking is not free, it is regulatedcorrects the Mouansois councilor. In the same way as that of Grasse, there are places reserved for users of public transport [100 places, avec gratuité totale pour les abonnés et 24h pour les usagers occasionnels] and, for the rest, there is a limited duration [3h en zone bleue]: if the user exceeds, he is fined.”
“Not the same operation”
He continues, on the financial side: “The set-up is not the same: Mouans-Sartoux provided a significant contribution for the construction of the car park, with the land and 900,000 e. It is normal that it is not the same operation.” A participation of 900,000 e “out of eight million” grumbled Paul Euzière, who has always opposed the (partial) financing of the project by the CAPG (3.5 million). “For the parking lot at Grasse station, the City also intervened: it was municipal land. There cannot be two logics.”
He concludes, with a double attack, against the Grasse paid project and the multimodal interest of the Mouansois car park: “In Mouans, there are two free car parks in the immediate vicinity of the station. Unlike the multimodal car park, which is far…”
