Comment by miki123211
2 years ago
> Itemize the marginal cost of maintaining your property's parking lot for those customers who visit your business by car
This isn't that uncommon, quite a few places in Europe do this actually.
Usually there's a barrier at the parking lot entrance. You get a ticket when entering, which you then have to put in a machine when leaving. The machine calculates your fee based on how long your car was parked. Modern systems are far more automated and use license plate readers instead.
Those parking lots are not owned by the stores. It's usually by the city or some other property investor.
If it happens to be a store-owned parking that charges per hour, it's to prevent abuse from drivers going to other stores nearby if it's in downtown. Charging for parking outside your store in a less dense district is equal to putting up a sign that you don't want customers.