Downtown Spartanburg: What to know about about new paid and validated parking on West Main
Five downtown Spartanburg businesses now have paid parking lots.
The parking lots for Main Street Pub, Rockers Brewing, Cribbs Kitchen, Craft Axe Throwing and Streaking Birdies Golf, all at 226 W. Main St., are now virtually metered through XPressPark.
All five businesses that use the lots now offer validated parking, eliminating the parking charge for their customers.
"We decided to implement this program to benefit both the onsite businesses and their customers," said Lianna Blanton, property manager for Mid-South Management. "We’ve always had issues with non-customers parking and visiting neighboring establishments, and with the continued growth of downtown Spartanburg, the issue has only worsened."
Blanton emphasized Mid-South Management made the change, not the businesses.
"We are aware that some people may be unhappy about this, and we want to make sure that they don't direct their frustration towards the businesses," she said.
When using either lot, drivers need to scan a QR code on one of the blue and white signs in the parking lots with the rear-facing camera on their phone or text 102 to 98000. Once they have done so, they will go to a webpage to choose how long they will be parked. The next step is to put in their license plate number and credit or debit card information so they can pay for a virtual parking pass.
All five businesses that use the lots now offer validated parking, eliminating the parking charge for their customers.
What to know about XPressPark in downtown Spartanburg
Virtual parking passes are available for $3 for 2 hours and $1 for each additional hour up to 4 hours. Drivers can pay for more time from their phones.
Drivers parking in the lots to visit Main Street Pub, Rockers Brewing, Cribbs Kitchen, Craft Axe Throwing, or Streaking Birdies Golf can get their parking pass validated by staff members and park for free. The validation code has to be entered before the pass expires."Validation will work when a guest comes to dine or grab a drink at either Cribbs Kitchen, Main Street Pub, Rockers, Craft Axe Throwing or Streaking Birdies," said Raj Patel, co-owner of Cribbs Kitchen and owner of Main Street Pub. "The staff will ask the guest if they need a validation code, and they would then enter it on their phone. That's it. Very seamless process for validation."
A phone that can access the internet and an active credit or debit card are required to park in the lot.
If you run into an issue with the XPressPark system, you can call 1-888-270-8335 or email contact@xpresspark.io. Knowing the parking zone (Zone 102) and address (226 W. Main St., Spartanburg) may be helpful.
Where can I park for free if I'm not visiting one of these downtown businesses?
There are options if you need a parking spot on that end of town and don't want to use the virtual parking system.
There is free 2-hour parallel street parking on Daniel Morgan Avenue, where it intersects with West Main Street. And there is free 2-hour parking on Spring Street, where it intersects with Broad Street.
If you don't want to parallel park, there is free street parking in front of the Herald-Journal (189 W. Main St) and more at the corner of West Main and Spring Streets. More free parking is in front of the Love Where You Live mural.
Free parking lots are available next to the Herald-Journal, and City Hall (145 W. Broad St.), and across from the fire station on Broad Street.Samantha Swann covers city news, development and culture in Spartanburg. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her at sswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sam_on_spartanburg.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Main Street Pub, Rockers Brewing, Cribbs Kitchen have new parking plan
