Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
RESTON, VA — (WMAL) Business owners at Reston Town Center may sue the company that decided to start charging for parking in the area this year. Aaron Mervis, vice president of Big Bowl restaurant, said there will be legal counsel at a meeting Monday evening to listen to the concerns business owners have.
“All the store owners and managers have said the same thing that all of them are down, I’ve heard ranges, from 10 to 50 percent down in sales,” Mervis said.
Reston Town Center is the only place in the area that charges for parking, and Mervis said suburbanites aren’t willing to pay. Big Bowl spent $1600 validating parking for customers in January, but they still had 1200 customers fewer customers than they did in January of 2016.
Business owners have talked to local and corporate managers at Boston Properties about the loss in sales.
“Pretty much you get the same line from them. You know, we just started this system. Let’s see how it goes. Let’s give it three to four months. It’s just been one month,” said Mervis.
Rob Weinhold with Boston Properties sent an email to WMAL in response to a request for an interview. ” I have been asked to respond/comment about a group of retailers allegedly considering a lawsuit about the paid parking model. It is inappropriate for Boston Properties to speculate or respond at this time” Weinhold wrote.
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