Merchants to Discuss Lawsuit Against Reston Town Center Over Parking on Monday

RESTON, VA — Dozens of merchants at Reston Town Center are organizing a revolt against the new paid parking system that has been in place for a month, and they are meeting on Monday to discuss suing RTC manager Boston Properties, one tenant tells Patch.

Bunny Polmer -- a spokeswoman for Aaron Mervis, who runs Wildfire Restaurant in McLean and Big Bowl at RTC -- said that in just a month since ParkRTC went live on Jan. 3, two retailers have closed and all stores have reported sales down 10 to 50 percent compared to last year.

"There is less foot traffic and would-be customers are taking their business to other shopping destinations," she said.

She claimed that more than 60 merchants are considering a lawsuit. Mervis told Patch that every single merchant at RTC except the Hyatt was on board to put pressure on Boston Properties. Many are expected to be on hand Monday, Feb. 6 at Vapiano's in Reston Town Center to discuss a possible lawsuit.

Polmer listed the following reasons why the ParkRTC system is bad for business:

• Having to download an app, which customers say is confusing, does not work well
• Pay stations are often not working and confusing
• Little or no assistance from Boston Properties and no way to explain the system to non-English speakers
• Confusion: Some retailers have provisions allowing free guest parking in one lot but not another
• Filled parking spots forcing guests to park in a different lot where a retailer may not validate (not all retailers can afford to purchase validation codes for all lots)
• Overnight charges for restaurant guests who have been drinking and want to leave their cars overnight while they walk/taxi/uber home
• Forcing guests to park in nearby development and angering tenants
• There is no quick parking accommodation for guests to do pick ups, drop offs, etc.
• Unclear rules about weekend parking (holidays? Fridays nights?)
• Validation codes have major limitations (guests must change garages to have their ticket validated for both a movie and dinner at certain restaurants)
• Guests with disabilities without smart phones must find a pay station (not conveniently located)

In addition, Polmer listed the following issues as affecting retailers:

• Negative publicity has spilled over to the retailers
• Employees are affected and are looking for other work
• All retailers are charged the same fee to validate parking (bad for small retailers)
• Employee parking is inconsistent and difficult to manage
• Parking security is not trained to help or answer questions
• Retailers are struggling to hold weekday events because people who would attend do not want to deal with paid parking
• Boston Properties has made changes without notification

UPDATE 2/3 11:01 a.m.: Rob Weinhold of the Fallston Group, which represents Boston Properties, has responded to reports of a possible lawsuits as follows: "It is inappropriate for Boston Properties to speculate or respond at this time."

Image via RTC