Lansing business owners call for free 15-minute curbside parking

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The city of Lansing could start parking enforcement an hour later under an ordinance being considered by City Council members.

The change to starting enforcement at 9 a.m., rather than 8 a.m., is aimed at giving businesses more flexibility to receive shipments without the trucks being reported for blocking traffic.

But during a public hearing yesterday Monday, some local business owners argued the proposed change doesn’t go far enough.

Lansing business owner Jen Estill, the president of the Downtown Lansing Inc. board, said they would benefit more from establishing free 15-minute curbside parking for customers.

“Think about The Peanut Shop or Cravings; in and out,” Estill said. “You add parking to that, you’re adding 40% to the cost of your peanuts.”

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Old Town Commercial Association Director James Lenon said people don’t plan their days around parking rules.

“They're making split second decisions about whether it's easy to stop, especially around that 5 p.m. time frame when the work day ends,” Lenon said. “If parking feels complicated or punitive, they simply go somewhere else.”

Estill said dedicated loading zones would also be more helpful for businesses that get shipments at all hours of the day. It would also benefit restaurants and drivers for delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats, she said.

“It would just make everyone's lives easier,” Estill said. “It would improve traffic patterns, and it would make daily deliveries and pickups, which really, truly happen all during the day, easier and faster for everyone.”

Other ordinances being considered by Council members would increase fines for parking violations by $10 and extend the grace period for drivers to pay a reduced fee, giving them until 11:59 p.m. the day the ticket was issued rather than two hours.

Hourly rates for street parking could also increase after two hours in an effort to incentivize use of parking ramps for vehicles being parked for extended periods of time.