SAN JOSE — Westfield Valley Fair may begin charging visitors for parking as soon as next year.

In a statement Sunday, the shopping mall’s management acknowledged it will roll out parking changes in 2020, although it declined to elaborate.

“We are in the early stages of planning a secured parking program for Westfield Valley Fair that will not roll out until 2020. While we do not have additional details to share currently, we expect to make an announcement later this year,” according to the mall’s statement.

Westfield in January introduced “secured parking” for at least one of its other malls, Westfield UTC in San Diego, after saying it had issues with people parking at the center and visiting other parts of the neighborhood.

At the San Diego mall, visitors get two hours of free parking and pay $2 for each hour after that, with the daily maximum at $15 for up to nine hours. Visitors to certain businesses such as the movie theater or 24-Hour Fitness can receive validations for additional hours of free parking.

A discussion cropped up on Facebook last week when a member of the Willow Glen Neighbors group noticed parking machines being installed at Valley Fair.

San Jose Planning Commissioner Pierluigi Oliverio, a former District 6 councilman, responded on Facebook that the “long term plan is for both Valley Fair and Santana Row to charge for parking,” with the goal of promoting carpooling.

Santana Row, an outdoor shopping mall and residential community across from Valley Fair, declined to comment through its director of marketing, Collette Navarrette.

“We’re certainly watching what Valley Fair is doing, but it’s too early to give out a statement,” Navarrette said. “We’ll have something clearer toward the end of the year.”

Oliverio said it would make sense for both malls to roll out parking changes at the same time, since visitors already park at one mall and walk across Stevens Creek Boulevard to get to the other.

Residents reacted to the Facebook post about the possible parking charges.

“Guess who won’t be shopping at Valley Faire or Santana Row…at a time when Brick and Mortar stores are being hit by online sales and the whole notion of ‘shopping local,’ way to kill it,” wrote Connie Willett Heath.

Others welcomed the change, including Becky Phillpott, who said she has visited the Westfield UTC in San Diego.

“It was wonderful, actually, to be able to pull up one afternoon, right into a parking place next to Nordstrom and run in,” Philpott said. “It discourages a lot of random people from parking in the centers for reasons other than shopping and participating in activities in the mall.”

According to Oliverio, both Valley Fair and Santana Row adopted transportation plans a few years ago that included initiatives such as adding bike parking, making pedestrian improvements and providing bus passes to employees, as well as plans to eventually charge for parking. Oliverio said he became aware of those plans while representing the City Council district that includes the malls.

“Both malls, wanting to be environmentally good stewards, offered to enter into a private transportation demand management plan with a goal to reduce carbon emissions and vehicle trips,” Oliverio told this news organization Sunday. “The long term plan is for both entities to charge for parking. It could be a validation program, and I’m not sure if that would be free or reduced.”

It’s unclear how much the mall would structure parking charges; Valley Fair declined to describe the changes Monday.

The Bay Street shopping center in Emeryville charges $2 for the first three hours of parking, with a $12 daily maximum. The Barnes and Noble book store and AMC Theaters there provide validation.

Oliverio said charging for parking has long been recommended by environmental advocates as a strategy for reducing car trips.

“I think for those that believe in the environmental urgency we have today, they should be strongly supporting this,” Oliverio said.

Valley Fair is amidst a $1.1 billion remodel, which includes the addition of a Bloomingdale’s, new restaurants and stores, and street improvements to make it easier to walk back and forth from Valley Fair to Santana Row.