OGDEN, Utah — There's confusion and frustration over some paid parking signs in downtown Ogden.
"I was confused because I was like, it’s always been no fee, and I thought, oh great, now I’m going to get charged,” said Timothy Buckner, who lives in Ogden. He isn’t the only one who felt that way.
"We just like everybody else were surprised by the paid parking,” said Blake Hirschi, director of operations at Slackwater Pizzeria. “It just kind of was sprung on us." Slackwater shares a parking lot with the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Ogden.
On Tuesday morning, businesses, residents, customers, and the city were surprised to find that the Marriott had put paid parking sites in their lot. "We weren’t involved in it, and we're doing everything we can to protect parking for our guests and for our community,” explained Hirschi. He said that customers will have their parking validated and won’t have to pay for parking outside the restaurant.
Hirschi also worries that these signs could hurt their business. "Nothing breaks my heart more,” said Hirschi.
The other concern for people was that the signs were in part of the parking lot shared with the city, in “Electric Alley.” So, most of those spots are free for people to park in for up to 2 hours. "I looked at it, and I was trying to measure out where exactly the fine line was that I could park and not get a ticket; it's not clear,” added Buckner.
The city said that since Marriott owns those spots, it can charge for parking. But they didn’t know about this till they saw the signs, either. "In order to turn this into a paid parking situation, the stalls need to be clearly identified, and people really have to have a clear understanding of what’s paid,” said Mike McBride with Ogden City.
Because of the confusion, paid parking won’t be enforced until the end of the month at least. The city says the parking enforcement company is working on taking the signs down. Both them and the hotel have been cooperating with the city, authorities said.
"I saw the temporary, you don’t have to pay the parking, and I thought, okay thats a relief,” added Buckner.
FOX 13 News reached out to the Marriott’s management, but they did not want to comment.
