Decatur’s commission appears committed to regulating the misuse, possibly overuse, of tire-locking devices that have become prevalent in recent years in private parking lots.
The city wants to set a maximum fee for the practice known as booting. The city also wants to require a uniform attendant always present in every private lot that boots and require that all paying machines are working and allow for multiple payment options in booting lots.
Staffers and commissioners receive many complaints weekly, mainly about the high fees for removing the boot, for which there’s currently no limit (some charge as much as $95).
The city wants to cap booting fees at $40, but several commissioners balked during last Monday’s meeting, feeling this was too low and unfair to business owners and parking companies.
After discussion the issue was tabled so city staff could re-consider the maximum fee.
“There’s a balance here,” Menne said. “We don’t dispute that private property owners should control their parking. But we don’t want to discourage visitors from coming downtown and we don’t want any predatory booting.”
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