BUFFALO, N.Y. — "As a business owner in the city, it's really going to affect me," said Raw Renewal Yoga Owner Megan Castlevetere.
The price of parking in downtown Buffalo is on its way up after the Common Council approved an increase to hundreds of parking meters.
It will cost you $2 an hour to park instead of one. The council also approved a paid parking extension till 10 p.m. instead of 5 p.m.
The city says it is to increase access and turnover for parking spots in the central business district.
'Raw Renewal Yoga' opened 14 months ago on the corner of Court and Pearl Streets to attract the downtown business crowd.
"There is so much foot traffic and people stop by all the time to say oh what is this and what do you do and they have become really great regular clients," said Castlevetere.
With this new change Castlevetere says she is frustrated because her clients will have to pay even more money to park and take her classes.
"My business really relies on people coming regularly," said Castlevetere, "...it''s not unheard of to come here six times a week. If they are paying for an hour long class on top of there parking, now it's going to be up to $18 a week for them."
The yoga studio is a new business and Castlevetere says if she had known about this parking price increase she would have chosen another location.
"I thought it was risky coming downtown and doing this kind of business in the area that I am in, but that would have 100% swayed me."
There is a petition circulating against the price increase that has more than 16 thousand signatures.
"If this is going to stick it is really unfortunate. We'll just have to see how it goes, if it really is impacting the business as much as I think it will, it's not a nice thing to have to think about," said Castlevetere.
The new price will go into effect in a few days.