COLUMBIA, Md. — No more paid parking, at least for now.
Paid parking spots on temporary 'pause'
GGP, the owner and operator of the Columbia Mall, reports that its preferred paid program is temporarily on pause while it determines “the best location for” guests.
Signs appeared to have been removed Friday.
It rolled out four weeks ago on Monday, August 3. That day, almost all of the spots remained empty as drivers would have to pay $2.45 for the first hour, plus an additional $2 for every extra hour up to four hours.
“It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” shopper Cindy Willey said. "Who's gonna come here if they have to pay for parking to go to the mall that they've been coming to for 30 years? It's ridiculous."
“It kind of destroyed a sense of community,” Rein Claro said.
The program only applied to 120 spots near Main Event, Seasons 52 and Uncle Julio’s, or less than 2% of all parking at the Mall.
Yet, backlash was swift.
Some drivers were so adamant to avoid paying that they would park in handicapped spots, Michelle Hoxter noticed.
“I was even contemplating getting a scooter because, you know, I’m like, how am I going to get from that end to this end?”
“Nobody was doing anything about it here from the mall,” she said. “I was even contemplating getting a scooter because, you know, I’m like, how am I going to get from that end to this end?”
As someone who uses one of those spots at least once a week, Hoxter was frustrated and ended up writing letters to elected officials.
Meanwhile, friends Willey and Alisa Niefeld were considering other options for their shopping trip, but decided to come out Monday when they learned they no longer had to pay.
“Who's gonna do it? It's gonna close down the malls and they're having issues now. So let's just make it go that much faster by paying parking,” Willey said.
Niefeld has lived in Columbia for 42 years and has seen mall businesses fail due to the high rent.
“Lower the rent for some of these people, get more business in here, and then I think it'll end up being better for everybody in the long run,” she said.
It’s not clear when or where the spots may pop up again. Neither is the exact reason for the pause or if other locations are also on pause because GGP did not respond to WMAR-2 News’ specific questions.
Shoppers can only hope the pause will be permanent.
“I would say not to bring it back,” Claro said.
“You're going to destroy this part of this community and you'll end up regretting it,” Willey said.
