Downtown Parking Facility Owners Say Cleveland Is Nitpicking on Safety Requirements for License Renewals

Owners of downtown parking garages and lots are irate over a city policy they say is muddling safety requirements with small aesthetic nitpicking.

Last August, Cleveland City Council passed legislation that required the owners of parking facilities to be licensed, which included requirements to post signage on how exactly they are keeping garages and lots safe, among other items.

The action was in response to distress over thefts and car break-ins that had long worried both the Cleveland Parking Association and visitors who use the parking spaces.

“I think everyone wants to work with the city, everyone wants to make their lots safe,” said Dan Maloof, the head of CPA who also owns 10 parking facilities in the Playhouse Square and Gateway districts. “But they’re making this a little difficult.”

But the license denials Maloof has heard of lately aren’t for safety woes or bad signage, he said.

“We know this is an issue for the city that they’re labeling safety. It’s about safety,” he said. “But when it’s coming to us, it’s all about cosmetics. You need bushes here. A sign over here. More fencing up over there.”

Two parking facility owners told Scene that licensing costs each owner a $1 per every space they oversee. Licenses are good for one year. Any denials can, of course, be appealed. Come August, violations can include fines of $200 for every infringement against new city policy—then fines of $1,000 to $3,000 for each offense without a license.

“The Kia Boyz were breaking into cars and the police were not effective—we’re not the problem,” one lot operator said under the condition of anonymity. “It’s a joke. The city poked the wrong bear.”

In a statement to Crain’s Cleveland, a city spokesperson said that licenses are being renewed for lot owners “actively working toward compliance.”

In an email to Scene, a city spokesperson said that 243 applications for renewals have been submitted since last August, 11 fewer than the 254 submitted throughout the last license period. And none, they said, have been outright rejected so far by CPD. The deadline is October 31.

As for those waiting for that license, Cleveland said they’re being patient.

“The city is engaging directly with them and coordinating across departments to support them through this process,” the spokesperson said.