Downtown Wichita businesses brace for change as paid parking begins

Downtown barber Javier Garcia sees paid parking downtown a lot like his 17-year career — a change being made to keep up with the times.

When he began, he took in only walk-in clients, then started scheduling with pen and paper. Now he uses a mobile app to schedule appointments and communicate with clients.

“I think, in turn, because of that adjustment, I will lose some [clients],” Garcia said, “but over time, what I’ve learned is… they like the responsibility of being able to just go on about their daily activities.

“And sometimes they fall into the fold of it. And some don’t… I think in the long run, it’ll be adjustment, and then people, they’ll just get used to it.”

Just outside his shop at Douglas and St. Francis, contractors are beginning to install a paid parking system for the downtown area.

Much of downtown parking has been free up until now.

Downtown businesses are bracing for what paid parking could mean for them, especially with some residents saying on social media they just won’t come to the area any more to avoid paying a dollar an hour to park.

The city is offering a few exemptions for paid parking, including 15-minute parking stalls, though it is not clear yet where those will be.

Garcia said he has been communicating with his clients as he learns more about the new parking system so that they continue to come to his shop, which opened just a couple months ago.

“They’re just going to be so used to just coming in and getting their hair cut and kind of going on about their way,” Garcia said.

Other downtown business people are more skeptical about the new system and why paid parking is being implemented now.

Cade McGaugh and Michael Reyes own Knockout Sneaker Boutique just around the corner from Garcia.

They made the move from Towne West Square two years ago to avoid repeat electrical shutoffs and other issues — and for the higher foot traffic.

“It’s just an inconvenience now to our customers that they have to sign up for all of it and do a whole extra step when they just want to run in and leave,” McGaugh said.

The co-owners said they wouldn’t mind paying for parking if it means the city would invest in better parking infrastructure downtown, especially if it’s closer to their business.

“If they have better parking then I wouldn’t mind paying for it,” Reyes said. “But since it’s the same, there’s not really improvements going on, it’s kind of pointless.”

The city has said that revenue from paid parking will go toward maintaining its parking infrastructure, especially the parking garages it owns downtown.

But much of the money the city will make in its first year of implementation will go to pay a third party to enforce the new parking plan and to reimburse them for the cost to install the new technology.

With the change coming July 1, some downtown businesses have already made their own changes because of paid parking.

Earlier this year, The Kitchen, just outside Union Station and now called the Kitchen Express, changed its menu to center around fast-casual food rather than dine-in.

The owner, Natasha Gandhi-Rue, said paid parking is now just another challenge that she has to deal with as a restaurant owner, especially as costs to run her business continue to rise.

“Our downtown has been taking a lot of hits, and as a business owner that’s invested nine years of herself, and not only sweat equity but actual equity, money, into building our downtown up, it’s really, really disheartening and it’s scary.

“I think we are all so afraid that our local businesses are going to suffer, and how long can we last if we are not supported by our community?”