‘This is unbelievable,’ cry drivers of new fees to park at Walgreens & retail shops – even city was surprised by signs
DRIVERS in a community where a Walgreens store lot has recently started telling customers to pay for parking are in disbelief.
The Walgreens in Buffalo, New York put up signs indicating that drivers had to pay to use its parking lot last month, starting a war between the City of Buffalo and the store.
Neighbors and business owners in the North Buffalo area have expressed how they can't believe the business made this change, local news outlet WKBW-TV reported.
One neighbor, Kimberly Schirmer lived in the neighborhood for 30 years.
Schirmer said she's never heard of having to pay for parking at any parking lot in her neighborhood.
"This is unbelievable that they're doing this," Schirmer stressed.
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The new parking changes were in the hands of Premium Parking and the business did not have the proper permits in place with the city.
The city made the company immediately stop all its operations, a Buffalo city spokesman said.
Additionally, tweaks to the code may be needed to allow Premium Parking's plan to continue in its jurisdiction.
"It hadn't occurred to us at the time that the zoning for commercial parking was different in the hurdle district as it is in the central business district," Pat Phillips with Premium Parking told WKBW-TV.
"As soon as the issue was brought to our attention, we ceased operations in compliance with the city, immediately went down to City Hall to understand better what we needed to do to be compliant."
Workers were taking down the signs within the same month.
Despite doing away with the added fees, some say the business had good reason to require pay for parking.
"I feel bad for Walgreens because everybody parks in their parking lots in the wintertime," Richard Wolf, a retiree who lives nearby said.
"I also feel bad for the businesses here too that need parking."
MORE PRICEY PARKING
Drivers across the US are dealing with controversial parking changes being made in their cities that affect their wallets as well.
Are you covered by law to park on a public street?
Parking on a public street is generally legal, even in front of someone's house, experts say.
Unless the home is in an HOA subdivision, an apartment complex with assigned spaces, or there are posted laws against parking during certain days or hours, it is not illegal to park a vehicle in front of someone's home on a public street.
"Generally speaking, an individual citizen does not 'own' or have any ongoing exclusive right to use a parking space on a public street," wrote Nolo Legal.
"These spaces are open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis."
Most states do have rules against vehicles being parked in the same spot for 72 hours, or blocking fire hydrants, driveways, and sidewalks, as a parked vehicle in those spaces presents a safety hazard.
Burlington, Vermont, has been changing how car owners pay for parking in the city as it kisses coin-based meters goodbye.
The city has already gotten rid of a number of parking meters on multiple streets.
It's a major move to push drivers to use its Park Mobile app.
The parking app has been available to people in Burlington for almost a decade but not all drivers in the community see the convenience of it.
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"I don’t like that idea at all," one Burlington driver, Karen Clark stressed.
"I don’t like to have to use a card for everything. I much prefer to use cash if I possibly can."