Downtown parking continues to give KC drivers headaches

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One metro attorney is fighting back over a parking ticket issued in a privately owned lot. He says that this isn’t enforceable, but the parking company disagrees.

Attorney Michael Seck said he’s been parking in the downtown lot at 16th and Walnut for 12 years while visiting nearby restaurants. However, on August 1, he was surprised to find a parking ticket on his car’s windshield.

The ticket came in a lime green envelope with the words “parking citation” scrawled across it.

Seck said he’s never been cited there before, and there isn’t a no parking sign at either of this large lot’s entryways. There are three ‘no parking’ signs, but they’re small and placed at one edge of the lot’s perimeter.

The parking lot’s entryways include large elevated signs that show monthly permits are required.

Seck objects to the ticket. He appealed it to SP Plus, the company that manages that lot, and eventually, the company agreed to drop the $40 fine. Seck contends the company didn’t have the authority to issue a citation in the first place.

“I pointed out to these people in my appeal that they didn’t have the legal authority to do that. There’s no signage saying you will be fined or cited,” Seck said.

Seck is still concerned because the signs are hard to see. He contends a privately owned lot can’t legally issue parking tickets with enforceable fines.

“There’s no legal authority for them to do that because there’s no contract for me and the parking lot owner or the company that they could say you’d violated our agreement,” Seck said.

FOX4 News sought clarification on city ordinances that govern private parking lots. Kansas City’s municipal communications office is working to find answers, but couldn’t share them on Friday.

A spokesperson for SP Plus said this is a private lot and there are signs at each entrance and throughout the lot.

“Many of our guests are familiar with the parking situation down here,” Barry Tunnell, who manages the nearby Tanner Wine Bar, said.

“Some folks who’ve parked there end up getting small tickets or citations.”

Seck shared an email from an SP Plus employee who says the lot’s owner is in the process of getting more signs. Seck said he worries that more people getting these citations don’t push back choosing just to pay them when they shouldn’t have to.

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