Business owners have parking headaches on this KC-area street. What city leaders say

Most of JR Ewing’s customers at his barbershop on Swift Street in North Kansas City are over 60 and they often need walking assistance.

But people frequently take up the parking spots outside his shop for extended periods of time, making it a challenge for his clients to come and get their hair cut.

Ewing, who moved JR’s Barber Shop at 1731 Swift St. in North Kansas City in September, said he’s left frustrated with the parking problems. He’s called 911 on cars. A parking enforcer has written several tickets. But still, people continue to park in those spots.

“I’ve lost customers because of it, so really, it’s costing me money because they can’t get in,” he said.

The parking outside local businesses on Swift Street is a problem that has come up several times before the City Council. Technically, people are not breaking the law for parking outside these businesses. The signs have 15-minute and two-hour parking time limits on them, except they are only enforced Monday through Friday, not including holidays.

Last week, Mollie Lothman, a co-owner of McLain’s Market, at 1720 Swift St in North Kansas City, attended the city council meeting to request that the city extend parking enforcement along Swift, as customers and other business owners in the area have complained about people abusing the spots during the weekend.

However, there are some limitations on the city. Their parking enforcer only works part-time, 25 hours a week, and the city is unsure of the domino effect it could cause on other parking throughout the city.

“They’d prefer not to make nips and changes, if you move parking in one area, it’ll affect others,” said Kim Nakahodo, the deputy city administrator of North Kansas City.

Nakahodo said the city has gotten several different complaints from business owners about parking along Swift.

The city is hoping to do a comprehensive study on parking throughout North Kansas City to collect data from business owners, visitors, residents and other parts of the community to make a solid universal parking plan.

Parking on Swift Street, North Kansas City

There are four parking spots outside McLain’s with 15-minute limits and two-hour limits during peak hours, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Spots are available for 15 minutes Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. During 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., drivers can park for up to two hours. Outside of the hours listed, drivers can park there for unlimited hours. Yet, McLain’s remains open seven days a week.

When McLain’s opened last fall, they anticipated parking would be hectic, since nearly all of downtown North Kansas City’s parking consists of public street spaces. The owners went before the city council to ask for 15-minute parking for their customers who often grab orders and leave quickly.

“It’s actually worked really well for its intended use, but it is Monday through Friday,” Lothman said. “Unfortunately, at 2 o’clock on Friday, we have a few people who literally park their car on Friday in the afternoon and don’t move it until Monday morning.”

McLain’s sits at the bottom of OxBow Apartments, a luxury apartment complex offering studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and penthouses.

While the building does offer parking, prices for the lots range from $1195 up to nearly $9,000 per month. Parking spaces can be purchased for $85-$105 per month, according to Apartments.com.

Lothman isn’t sure, but she does think weekend parkers could be from OxBow residents or their visitors.

The OxBow did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Accessible parking

With Ewing’s clientele being a lot older than the customers coming into McLain’s from across the street, he has a different perspective on the parking.

“It needs to be more handicap spots,” said Ewing. “This is the world we live in, always. That’s really the first thing. Period.”

He also thinks there needs to be equal parking rules on each side of the street. While McLain’s sees a lot of residents from the Oxbow parking in the spots right outside the bakery, Ewing sees some of McLain’s customers parking outside his shop for two hours at a time.

In some cases, he sees people parking in accessible handicap spots, although they do not appear to need mobility assistance.

City Council is expected to make a decision on parking along Swift at the next City Council meeting on June 17.