DENVER — A parking lot at the corner of Tennyson Street and West 29th Avenue has become an epicenter of disputes and anger as neighborhood business owners struggle to stay afloat and keep customers happy.
Since at least 2019, customers who wanted to visit businesses along 29th freely parked in the CôNu’s Corner Càfê parking lot without worry of having to pay for parking or get booted.
Now the café owner has put up signs indicating the parking lot is for her customers only. A tow truck can be seen in the area as customers get booted for parking in the lot and then walking to neighboring businesses, like Leroy’s Bagels.
The increased parking enforcement has put surrounding businesses at odds with cafe owner Nhu Hoang, who told 9NEWS she must protect her customer spaces. She has seen an increase in customers thanks to the recent addition of a bahn mi sandwich kitchen inside the café.
“We’ve been paying for the full lot, and the rent goes up every year," Hoang said. "And seriously, we can’t afford to just let everybody park here. We pay for everything, including fixing the parking lot, insurance. Everything.”
In one conflict between the cafe and a visitor to the parking lot, a person can be seen in a video on the cafe’s Instagram screaming a racist tirade to Hoang after she confronted them.
Hoang also shared a racist voicemail she received. Visitors have been leaving one-star reviews for her café on Google because of the parking conflict.
“I don’t know, what did we do wrong that makes people do that to us?” Hoang asked.
Sarah Green, owner of Leroy’s Bagel, said there has never been a parking conflict until the past year when customers began getting booted. She put up a sign in the bagel shop warning about the booting.
Green said customers have blamed businesses like hers for the booting.
“I feel comfortable speaking for the other businesses that we have no part in the towing," Green said. "We have never encouraged our patrons to park in this lot. And what they do outside of our business is really outside of our control.”
She said in a past mediation meeting with Hoang, paying for parking spaces came up but that it was too expensive for her business and others along 29th Avenue.
“The cost at the time was something that was a big hit to all of our bottom lines and that as small businesses we were unable to bite off," Green said. "That’s where the discussion stopped.”
Mediation talks between Hoang and the surrounding businesses might resume in the next couple of weeks.
Green said she hopes for a neighborly resolution to the parking situation.
“We’re all just really working to keep our head above water, and I think being able to support each other in a small neighborhood would be a nice way to go about it,” she said.
“We are a small business," Hoang said. "We are struggling, and we are trying to stay alive.”
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