Following a spat with GoTriangle, the Streets at Southpoint has installed new signs on park-and-ride spots that will allow the mall to tow cars belonging to transit riders if they violate parking rules.
Last week, transit users reported finding fliers on their cars saying they could be towed if parked in designated park-and-ride spots outside of the hours of six a.m. to six p.m. But the parking lot signage did not specify any such time limits, so according to Durham’s planning director, towing would have violated city code.
The Streets at Southpoint has since installed new signs reading “Reserved for Park & Ride Use During Non-Holiday Weekdays Between 6 AM and 6 PM.”
This seems to settle the confusion over whether Southpoint can tow transit users’ vehicles and when.
But it doesn’t answer concerns over how the mall will determine whether an offending car belongs to a mall customer or a transit customer, or what to do with a car belonging to a passenger on a late bus or a rider who decided to have dinner at the mall.
Southpoint said in a statement last week that no cars had been towed and that the mall is “being taken advantage of by the local transit systems.”
“We have not violated the Mall’s site plan, the Unified Development Ordinance or any agreement with the city. In this circumstance, there has been a severe overuse of our property and we are being taken advantage of by the local transit systems. As a result, our customers and retailers are negatively impacted,” the statement said. “We embrace our role as the community’s regional shopping center and are happy to accommodate park-and-ride customers in our parking lot. In fact, we have not yet towed any vehicles and the designated park-and-ride spaces are marked.”
This article appeared in print with the headline “+PARKING WARS.”
