The cost of parking at Guadalajara’s glut of shopping malls tends to be an arbitrary business.Suffice to say, someone, somewhere is making a hatful of money from it.
Augusto Valencia, a tenacious state legislator from the Citizens Movement, recently submitted a proposal to the Jalisco Congress that would make most shoppers who frequent city “plazas” shout from the rooftops in glee.
In what seems like a very logical and reasonable proposal, Valencia submitted the notion that the first two hours of parking in all malls should be free of charge, as long as a purchase of some kind has been made.
A counter proposal from the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) side of the chamber suggested the first hour of parking should be free of charge, irrespective of whether a purchase is made.
As discussions on the proposal continued in congressional committees, Pare, one of the city’s most prominent mall parking concessionaires, entered the fray, pleading with legislators not to change the parking tariff regulations contained in the Ley de Coordinación Metropolitana (Metropolitan Coordination Law). Pare argued that parking fees should be based on “supply and demand” and that a public forum should first be held to discuss the issue.