No Zip Line here

The Atlanta Braves’ venture to Cobb County has been widely controversial for a number of reasons. The latest has property owners near the stadium upset because of their inability to capitalize on parking for games.

Dan Klepal of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution details a man and his partners who owned a piece of property since 2003. After the announcement of SunTrust Park’s opening next year, the owner decided to earn back some of his spendings by charging fans to park in his lot, but Cobb County commissioners passed an ordinance in February that outlaws property owners within a half-mile of the new park from charging for parking during games and other events at the stadium.

The Braves are undoubtedly trying to maximize their parking revenue, but it will undoubtedly make parking on game days more difficult.

The ordinance was passed very quietly, per Klepal:

The ordinance was requested by the Braves and passed without public debate just three months before stiff primary election challenges to Commission Chairman Tim Lee and Commissioner Bob Ott, whose district includes SunTrust Park. Lee and Ott were co-sponsors of the ordinance.

The people who it might affect the most might not even be people attending the games, but people that work in the area, as Klepal points out:

The new law also appears to take the idea of restricted parking near the stadium a step farther than banning private lots. It says that during prosecution of offenses it will be “presumed” that “all vehicles parked on property during a special event have been charged a fee for parking during the special event.”

The provision could be intrepreted to mean that all cars parked in un-licensed lots are “presumed” to be in violation of the ordinance during games — potentially impacting employees and customers who have their cars parked at any of the dozens of office buildings, shopping centers, restaurants and other businesses in the restricted parking area.

Lee and other county officials say it was not their intent to outlaw all parking in private lots during stadium events, and that type of provision would never be enforced anyway. Whatever the intent, Tate called it “clearly unconstitutional.”

And in case you were curious, SunTrust Park and the Braves are expected to offer 10,000 parking spaces. The capacity of SunTrust Park is 41,500. While you won’t have a parking space for every seat in the house for obvious reasons, it makes things that much tougher when MARTA, the city’s rapid transit system doesn’t run through the area.

So if you don’t get that coveted parking space, you might want to call that Uber, or get to walking.

[AJC]

About Harry Lyles Jr.

Harry Lyles Jr. is an Atlanta-based writer, and a Georgia State University graduate.