Debate Over Mystic Arts Center Parking Continues (With Poll)

It’s been almost two months since the installed a credit card swipe payment system in their downtown Mystic . For many, however, the is still as fresh as it was the day the center installed the new credit card only system.

On Monday night moved inside when the Mystic Arts Center held an informational meeting on the system.

Ian Holliday reported in today’s online version of the Mystic River Press that speakers against the new system, many of them business owners, respectfully voiced their opposition to the credit card payment method at Monday’s meeting. Among their concerns, the Mystic River Press reported, are the increase in cost to businesses that validate customer parking, the pay system based on an hour instead of half and hour, and the lack of a cash option for parking.

In August, just days after the installation of the new system the told Patch they were already losing business and a several residents said the system tied up traffic and they wouldn’t use the new system.

At Monday’s meeting, the Mystic River Press reported that the Mystic Arts Center agreed to lower the cost of validated parking to $1 from $3 and that the Mystic Arts Center board would continue discussing the issue.