More parking spaces for mobile homes in Marktoberdorf

Marktoberdorf - In its most recent public meeting, the Committee for Urban Development, Economy, Tourism and Environment decided to expand the existing mobile home parking space on Marktoberdorf Castle Hill.

The existing facility there officially has four parking spaces, connections for electricity and water (each for a small fee) and a disposal station. In the future, the facility is to be expanded to 15 parking spaces. The background to the decision is the strong increase in demand for such places, in particular due to the boom in the motorhome market. In his factual lecture, Philipp Heidrich, head of the city marketing, tourism and business development department, reported that the demand for mobile homes had increased even before the Corona, particularly drastically but especially in 2020. In the past twelve months alone, there has been an increase of 50 percent given, and the number of new registrations has risen from 58,000 to 87,000.

On the other hand, the city wants to generate new income with the expansion, because the expanded offer should no longer be free of charge.

How high the fees will actually be was not determined in the meeting.

The contributions to the discussion showed a price range of ten to 15 euros.

Resistance from residents?

The majority of committee members did not fear an impairment of the quality of life for the residents through rising emissions. Dr. Anne-Dore Fritzsche (Greens) reported, however, that there is already resistance from some citizens. She therefore advocated looking for a "soft variant". Marktoberdorf's third mayor Michael Eichinger (Free Voters), Stefan Elmer (SPD) and Thorsten Krebs (CSU) did not share their concern. Even now, said Krebs, there are usually ten to twelve mobile homes on the Schlossberg, so you already have such a situation. By managing the site through fees, you can not only keep the number of mobile homes within limits, but also earn money. Eugen Kögel (CSU) also spoke out in favor of the expansion.The parking spaces on the Schlossberg are a successful project, the expansion of which is always cheaper than a new development elsewhere. In addition, the proximity to the shops and restaurants in the city center make the parking spaces on the Schlossberg attractive for tourists. Andrea Guggenmos (CSU) pointed out, however, that in view of the current situation, an expansion to 15 parking spaces will most likely not be sufficient.that, given the current situation, an expansion to 15 parking spaces will most likely not be enough.that, given the current situation, an expansion to 15 parking spaces will most likely not be enough.

Opportunities to increase the offer

In advance, the administration had already thought about numerous ways of increasing the range of motorhomes. The suggestions were then reduced to a total of three options by means of a process of elimination. In addition to the expansion of the facility on the Schlossberg, a plot of land in Thalhofen am Schweinberg was also considered, which the owner wanted to manage privately together with an operator. However, this variant did not find a majority in the committee. However, the possibility of a “decentralized” expansion of the offer by creating parking spaces on selected farms in the surrounding area is different. With three parking spaces per farm and sufficient supplies on the respective property, one would also like to spatially equalize the number of mobile homes.This variant is to be implemented in the future parallel to the Schlossberg extension. However, the main income of the farms should still be agriculture, so that the surrounding area retains its rural character.