While the city of Marion is working to make parking downtown more accessible, some local businesses fear the newly leased spaces will do the opposite for their customers.
After learning that the majority of the spots in the parking lot on 5th and Washington Street would be leased, Aeron Kincaid, director at Marion Civic Theatre, said she fears the theater will lose patrons as available parking for shows is now limited, especially for the elderly customers who are unable or unwilling to walk from distant parking places.
"We open Aug. 4, so we’ll have, hopefully, over 100 people here every show, and we only have like maybe 10 slots in that back parking lot," Kincaid said. "If we use what is considered free parking in that super lot, I think the city said there was only eight spots. So there’s really no other place to park, other than on the street."
In the long run, Kincaid said parking issues could affect ticket sales enough to force the theater to close its doors.
Kincaid, among others, spoke at a recent traffic commissioner's meeting to voice her concerns about the parking changes. However, Kincaid, along with RaChelle Fears-Neal, owner of Faith in Motion, said she received little response from the city.
"I felt like it was just a public forum to talk, but decisions had already been made," Kincaid said. "So, a lot of what we said was listened to, but really, not really responded to, or we were told that we were rushing to judgement."
As a solution to the limited parking, Kincaid said she was told the theater could use the leased spaces, but if anyone who owned the leased spaces came and found cars parked in their spots, they could have them towed. The city also suggested the theater lease spaces themselves, Kincaid said, but at $20 a month, the theater cannot afford to lease 50 to 60 spaces, and when the suggestion was offered, the majority of the lot at 5th and Washington Street had already been leased.
Fears-Neal said Faith in Motion also cannot afford to lease spaces for her clients. The city is encouraging her to have customers park at the lot on 5th and McClure Street, almost three blocks away, but she said she feels as though this is a safety issue.
"We have children and mostly women . . . that drop their kids off and pick them up," Fears-Neal said. "To walk [that distance] when it’s 8:30 at night, or to have a teenager that’s walking herself, it’s a huge safety issue. A lot of times I’m here even until midnight. I don’t think it’s reasonable."
Fears-Neal said she recommended the city give business owners parking passes but received no response. She said she feels unappreciated by the city as they place hardships on existing local business owners by trying to draw more business in.
"It's very frustrating for the business in downtown Marion. We've made the commitment to 'Make it Marion'," Fears-Neal said. "The administration makes references to Muncie, Indianapolis and Fort Wayne. We don't have the income those cities have. If I wanted to live in a larger city, I would move from here."