This way out! The management of Grasse car parks by the company Indigo (formerly Vinci Park) will end on December 31, 2026. The elected officials approved, on Tuesday in session, the early and amicable termination of the Public Service Delegations (DSP) for the Cours Honoré Cresp (375 spaces), La Foux (200 spaces) and Hôtel de Ville-Cathédrale (82 spaces) car parks. Reasons and consequences: we explain everything to you.
If the municipal parking authority of Grasse has control over the parks of Notre-Dame-des-Fleurs/Martelly, de la Roque, Roubaud and Chiris – i.e. 1,100 spaces – the Indigo company therefore has the management of the three other sites mentioned above. For ages, and for a long time to come.
In detail, the DSPs ran until April 16, 2033 for the Town Hall (signed in 1990), until December 31, 2044 for the Cours (signed in 1971) and until April 30, 2046 for the Foux (signed in 1985).
Not satisfactory for the City which, “after evaluation with expert firms”, Pascal Pellegrino, deputy delegate for parking, said he considered the contracts to be “archaic.”
The City will have to pay €2.179 million to Indigo
Operating times “too long”therefore, and financial mechanisms that do not encourage the operator to optimize its management. We translate: value for money, financial benefits… The municipality does not find its way there. So, following “negotiations launched in 2020”early termination of the contracts, as of December 31, 2026, was proposed to Indigo. Under several conditions.
In addition to the routine maintenance of the sites, Indigo is committed to making a series of investments: “The change of toll and access control equipment, as well as the installation of license plate readers in the three parks.” But also the resumption of beams and painting work at Cours.
In return, the compensation paid by the City will amount to €2.179 million: €1.88 million for the net book value and €298.140 million for the loss of earnings. The latter does not represent, according to Pascal Pellegrino, “only 10% of what Indigo initially demanded.”
A good deal, then? Yes, for Paul Euzière (Grasse à Tous), speaking of a “acceptable amount.” Especially since, according to him, in the event of litigation, “The city was losing, for sure. With this amicable termination, we’re doing well.” Still in opposition: Stéphane Cassarini (Grasse first) does not have the same reading. Not at all…
“We’re writing a blank check”
“Delighted” to recover the parking lots, the elected official regrets “lost time” and, above all, the €2.179 million to be paid to Indigo: “We’re writing a blank check.” He explains his reasoning: “I asked the City for the investment invoices justifying this amount. Answer: we don’t have them. In fact, we have to blindly trust Indigo’s accountants, who forwarded them to the auditor. What right of inspection does the City have?” And he has little confidence in Indigo, relying on the report from the Regional Audit Office which pointed out “lack of rigorous monitoring of the delegation from the outset.” And taking, among others, the example of the Roque elevator, “broken down for years.”
Inflexible, Pascal Pellegrino indicates that “The net book value, controlled by a consulting firm, is not negotiable.” And remember, for the loss of earnings: “We are giving €300,000 instead of the requested 3M€.” Conclusion: “We did the job.” Approved by Jérôme Viaud: “It is the result of methodical work, with around fifty meetings, supports the mayor. The ambition is to increase the attractiveness of parking, and therefore of the city centre.”
Exactly, how do we go about it?
If the management mode of the three car parks on January 1, 2027 will be addressed “in the coming months”Paul Euzière makes no secret of his choice: “We have always been in favour of municipal management. It is the basic condition of a coherent parking policy. And we prefer that the profits benefit the people of Grasse rather than the shareholders of large private groups.”
Towards a drop in prices and even… free?
He also believes that the Grasse car park authority “has proven itself.” Example: the Roque car park, “presented by the delegate at the time as structurally in deficit and which, today in management, generates profits [386.000€ en 2023].”
Beyond that, the opposition representative considers that these 657 recovered places should make it possible to “review the parking policy in the centre, with free zones and blue zones.” The same feeling is felt by Stéphane Cassarini, who believes that “to revive attractiveness” from Grasse, it would be necessary that “parking should be free, at least for a while; or, at the very least, drastically reduce prices (1).”
So, watch this space. In the meantime, the new Indigo rates [l’augmentation ne devra pas dépasser les 3%] arrive on January 1, 2025…
1. For example, after 30 free minutes, 3 hours of parking costs €5.90 at La Foux, €7 at Cours and €7.20 at Hôtel de Ville.
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