ORLANDO, Fla.,None — Some businesses owners in downtown Orlando say the parking situation is out of control.
One man told WFTV’s Steve Barrett that he got a ticket because he put money into an expired parking meter for his co-worker.
“Can you count how many tickets you've gotten in the years?” WFTV asked nightclub owner Tony Smith
“They gave me a list the other day of how many recently, and it's over 50,” he said.
Smith said parking tickets have become a cost of doing business downtown, but he says things have only gotten worse since the Amway Center was built, because on many nights parking prices double.
His employees get hit with plenty of tickets too. The same goes for other bars. Steven Prichnick even tried to fill a fellow employee's meter, only to find out its illegal.
“She actually asked me if it's my car. I stated that it wasn't and I got ticketed for trying to help out an employee,” he said.
While some musicians just hike it to bars, the members of the band Real-Deal scramble to unload their equipment, risking a ticket just to get it into a bar.
The city of Orlando said it has given out about 180,000 tickets in the last two years, bringing in $3.8 million in fines.
Two city-owned garages offer special rates for service workers. On Jefferson Street parking cost $65 per month or parking at the old Amway Arena costs $70 a month.