SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) -
Some good news, for anyone who does business in downtown Sioux City. Soon, you may be able to park for free.
"I'm like oh shoot, I forgot to get change. You have to think what time is it, what time is it," says Keri Hebrink of shopping downtown.
"There's free parking at the mall, the mall's always packed," points out Kimberly McKenna.
There's not shortage of opinions about the parking situation in downtown Sioux City.
"As an owner of a small business, it's nice that those areas are open for my customers, but as a consumer, it's much easier not to think about the parking meters," explains Karen Banks who leases a downtown space for her Mary Kay studio.
Sioux City's mayor pitches this parking prescription.
"I want to get rid of some of the parking meters in front of the retail sectors downtown," says Scott.
Scott hopes free two-hour parking drives traffic back to downtown. Business owners say parking tickets tend to send customers packing.
"A lot of people don't come in a whine about, they just go cursing down the road back home, and probably don't come back," says Kim Kletschke, the owner of longtime downtown business Karlton's Clothiers.
"There's just so many places in Sioux City where you can park without meters, that it's hard to get business down with them," explains Downtown Partners Board President Chris Bogenrief.
Under Scott's plan, abusers of the two hour maximum would be fined $25, nearly twice as much as the current cost for a parking ticket.
Proponents say two hour parking works,. In fact, it's already being used downtown, at the United Center.
"What we'd like to look at is expanding that into strategic parts of the downtown, especially where there's retail or office space that has a lot of walk-in traffic," says Bogenrief.
City Manager Paul Eckert says some business owners are concerned the bigger fine will turn people away for good, but Scott says there's time to work out the kinks before his planned launch of the pilot program this summer.
The city is also considering a courtesy notice for out-of-towners. For example, cars from outside a three-county area-- which they haven't specified-- would get a warning, instead of a ticket.
