All day parking at Seattle's iconic Pike Place Market will cost you a lot more starting Monday.
Many people don't realize market vendors pay the same as customers do and almost always have to pay for all day parking at Pike Place Market.
Many vendors are angry about the price hikes and some are fighting back.
Before guitars at Soul Cat Guitars go on display at Pike Place Market, owner Dean Moller has to lug all his merchandise out of his car.
"And then I have to pack up at the end of the day," said Moller as he pulled boxes of cigar box guitars and stands out of his car.
He and others say on-site storage provided by the market is not big enough for their products.
The Market's Parking Garage on Western Avenue and its early bird special is vital for Moller and other vendors.
But starting Monday, changes are coming for everyone.
"All the vendors are very, very angry," said Moller.
Prices for one to four-hour parking will not change, according to the Pike Place Market website. One hour will still cost $3 and four hours will still cost $12.
But parking four to 10 hours will go from $20 to $30 starting Monday.
All-day parking will increase from $20 to $40 as well.
The early bird special will go up $6 to $18 starting Monday, but will then be completely eliminated Aug. 1.
"It would cost me $600 a month to park here," said Moller of the new prices.
Lost ticket rates are going up too – from $20 to $40.
Representatives with the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority said they made the changes because vendors and workers were taking too many spots from customers.
Ben Franz-Knight, executive director of the Pike Place Market PDA, told KIRO 7 it's not about revenue, it's about preserving enough parking for customers during the busy summer months.
Relief, they say, will come in late 2016 or early 2017 when 300 additional parking spots will open.
"My wife and I, we've committed, we are never going to park in that garage again," said vendor Russell Price. "So when the wintertime comes and all of these people that they're supposedly making room for are gone, we're hoping that garage will be empty."
Feeling slighted, the owners of Adventure Days Dog Treats are organizing a protest by vendors at the market before the August changes.
"We're the last little part of Seattle that's very similar to how it was when I grew up here amidst huge high-rises and the sanitization of everything else," said Price. "What I'm afraid of is that it's going to push some fantastic craftspeople out of business."
In the meantime, Moller will lug his guitars to a cheaper lot.
Others may consider a discounted Orca card offered by the market.
Franz-Knight told KIRO 7 the authority will review the rates again in the fall.
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