Attention, Westfield Valley Fair shoppers: Better think about skipping the line at Ramen Nagi or trying on another pair of sneakers at Shoe Palace. That is, if you want to get out of the mall before you have to start paying for parking.
The mall has slashed the amount of time you get to park for free in its garages and lots. Instead of two free hours, shoppers now only get one, and after that it’s $2 an hour. There’s a $15 maximum that signs say takes effect after five hours, but the math on that seems off (unless there’s an increase to $3 an hour in the works).
Valley Fair first implemented a parking fee in February 2022, saying at the time it was imposed to curtail people from leaving their cars parked at the mall overnight or for days at a time. Westfield Valley Fair Senior General Manager Sue Newsom told the Mercury News back then the “controlled parking plan” was part of a broader focus on security at Valley Fair, as hundreds of cars were left at the mall every day. The biggest offenders were people parking at the mall and heading to jobs elsewhere and travelers leaving their cars there instead of San Jose International Airport…