Businesses in the Crossroads call for fairer parking enforcement, claim it’s hurting their bottom line
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Some Kansas City businesses in the Crossroads said parking is starting to become a growing problem.
Complaints are starting to rack up over parking tickets and parking prices, and some businesses fear it will keep people away.
In the heart of Crossroads, popular small businesses like Lula Southern Cookhouse are seeing a pattern take shape -- frequent parking tickets.
Over the weekend, owner Bradley Gilmore expressed his frustrations on Facebook and posted, “Nothing like coming outside your restaurant on a Saturday brunch and seeing every single patron’s car have a ticket on it.”
He tagged Mayor Quinton Lucas, who responded a few hours later with a statement that read in part, ‘I need to get better info from public works on ticket activity and how heavy-handed we’re being and what for.”
Gilmore said it’s not just the ticketing, but the price to park seven days a week.
“Yes, I understand we have to pay for parking as the city grows, but customers should be able to come to Lula, be able to dine here and pay 5 to 10 bucks, not 20-30 dollars.”
He’s also worried about the current rules contributing to his drop in sales, specifically his lunchtime rush.
“You can’t come to Lula and have dinner in one hour. You go to any large city, any large city I go to there’s no price increase over the hour,” he explained, “here every hour, I stay, it goes up and up and up.”
Gilmore told KCTV5 he has three solutions in mind:
- Paid parking should be Monday-Friday
- There should be 2-hour minimum
- Price shouldn’t increase each hour.
Gilmore said he’s thankful that Mayor Lucas responded to his post and is willing to hear him out.
He said he’s looking forward to working with the city to find a solution.
“I’m going to reach out to him, we plan on having, a couple of restaurateurs together, plan on having a roundtable and voicing it,” said Gilmore.
The Crossroads Community Association said they are aware of the concerns and frustrations and are also working with the city on solutions.
They said there’s already conversations on whether the pricing method should change, more education about the pricing and getting more consistent signage.
KCTV5 also reached out to Public Works for a comment but did not hear back.
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