So some crazy stuff has been happening in downtown Kalamazoo in regards to parking. We’re going to get right down to the bare bones of the operations here at DIT because we don’t like to mess around.
First off: Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. (DKI) tried to hike some parking fines back in December of 06, but that was a no-go. Somehow a bunch of people got charged the higher rates anyways, even though DKI never got any approval from the City Commission. DKI says that they’ll refund the ($80,000) difference to some people who got hiked charges, but, “The amounts will depend upon the number of citations a driver paid and how long it took them to pay the tickets after they were issued.” In short, not how much they got screwed, just how much the government decides to give them back from what they got screwed.
Secondly: DKI is going to “hike a host of parking fees, ranging from an expected 25-cent jump in the cost of an hour’s parking at a short-term meter to a 5 percent hike in the cost of monthly parking passes at public lots and ramps.” Which, according to the Facebook group “Isn’t It Hard Enough To Park On Academy“, is going to cost any employee of a downtown business $1.50 an hour, or $12 a day for an 8 hour shift. And especially on Academy street, where they will be adding approximately 40 new parking meters.
Oh, and they are going to lay off staff at parking ramps by changing their starting time from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Oh, and DKI President Kennith Nacci said “parking fines are not considered a significant revenue generator for the downtown group…”
Oh, and Kalamazoo Noise picked up on it as well so you can tell this is pretty major.
DITKalamazoo 
Numbers are a bit off: Check this –
http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/06/parking_rates_in_downtown_kala.html
Dear spacerobotfive, though this has nothing to do with the conversation at hand, might I ask if your name is a reference to the band Brave Saint Saturn? If it is, i’ll love you forever for the reference because they were one of my favorite bands in middle school. That is all.
With downtown as dead as it is, they want to stifle it further? The real problem is DKI at large. Why is a corporation running our city?
Rabblerabblerabble.
But no, you’re absolutely right.
this has several aspects of unacceptability.
1. why is a private company running parking in kalamazoo? this automatically assumes that they are only loosely affiliated with the local government who take a portion, i’m sure…but they are a profit turning company.
2. such a move would be more likely to cripple downtown businesses, yet they’ve somehow gotten the go-ahead from the city in a time of economic downturn (though i do realize that things are just starting to pick up again)
3. in particular this could very well seriously affect The Strutt and it’s ability to have shows. where will fans and bands park for shows? (might i suggest at least for the fans… across the street a little ways in the same parking lot suggested for No Fun shows?… st. vincents?)
[spunj13]