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"Parking kiosks along Ocean Avenue in Carmel have not received the warmest welcome. Some of the loudest cries of protest against the pay-to-park pilot program have come from the business community.In an effort to work with them, the city unrolled a customer loyalty coupon program two weeks ago, but many businesses say they're not using it.The chief of police said the city started the parking kiosk pilot in an effort to free up parking spaces in downtown. The program charges drivers $2 an hour to park on Ocean Avenue, the main drag in Carmel.The business community has complained that since the program started, they've seen a decrease in customers parking in downtown.In response to propietors’ concerns, the city handed out 10 customer loyalty coupons to every business along Ocean Avenue. The coupons look like your average business card and each has an individual code on it that can be entered into the parking kiosks for two hours of free parking. It's a model some business owners say could work.\"To be honest, I really think it can,\" said Todd Tice, owner of The Club.Tice said he has not handed out any of the coupons, but he also said his customers have not had a problem paying for parking.\"Most of our clients have not had a problem with it whatsoever, because they can find a space to park out on Ocean Ave,\" he said.While not everyone has been in favor of the city's parking kiosks, many do agree there was a problem with space availability in downtown.\"There is an issue with parking in Carmel, employees park, restaurant employees, retail employees, and it does take up, it clogs all of the parking spaces that are available,\" said Detlef Bittner, owner of Bittner.But Bittner, like many other proprietors in downtown, is not in favor of the pay-to-park pilot. Shop owners are against it for a variety of reasons -- they say the machines are unattractive and hard to use, and they fear the kiosks will deter customers.\"They do not fit the character in town, they're very unsightly and they're quite impractical, as I said, to use,\" said Bittner about the kiosks.Police Chief Mike Calhoun said the full streets in the past didn't always equal out to customers in stores shopping. \"We've had 100 percent occupancy for the longest time and it's basically long-term parkers people who are coming here parking and they're not moving their cars,\" he said about the congestion of the past.Calhoun said says the city has seen 85 percent occupancy on Ocean Avenue since putting in the machines. "
<https://www.ksbw.com/article/free-customer-parking-coupons-sit-unused-in-carmel/1056546>