Authorities in Detroit are cracking down on parking lot owners who are gouging consumers by charging as much as $900 and $1,000 ahead of the Lions divisional round playoff game against the Washington Commanders on Saturday.
Detroit police officers have posted notices and placed yellow tape on multiple downtown lots near the stadium to counter a price hike trend city officials are calling “unacceptable.”
A spokesperson for the city of Detroit says three lots were shut down after $1,000 parking prices were posted on a parking app.
The normal procedure for raising parking prices is for lot owners to file a request with the city’s Buildings Safety, Engineering, and Environmental Department 30 days before the event.
David Bell, director of Buildings for Detroit, called the price gouging “shameful.”
“This is totally ridiculous,” Bell said. “I don’t know of anyone who thinks that paying $900 or $1,000 to park and go see a game is reasonable. If we find any parking lot illegally charging folks to park, we are going to use every tour in our arsenal to let them know this is a bad idea. We are going to shut them down, we are going to ticket them, we are going to haul them in front of a Wayne County Circuit Court Judge, and we’re going to take steps to suspend their license. This is totally unacceptable.”
The owners of the three lots shut down by police have to appear before a judge to see when they will be allowed to reopen.
