{"id":252822,"date":"2026-04-16T16:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/252822\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T16:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:30:11","slug":"towing-threat-at-popular-san-antonio-parking-lot-sparks-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/252822\/","title":{"rendered":"Towing threat at popular San Antonio parking lot sparks concern"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warnings of major parking changes at one of the\u00a0last bastions of free parking<\/a> along the river\u00a0in San Antonio have floated for months. Paid parking<\/a> has been speculated since 2024, but those plans have not come to fruition \u2013 much to the confusion of locals and employees. But bright red signs now line the perimeter warning that anyone looking for a free spot to park before a River Walk stroll could find their vehicle impounded.<\/a><\/p>\n

Even if the vow to introduce paid parking has yet to become reality, there are serious changes underway at Blue Star Art Complex<\/a>. Gone are the days of grabbing a coffee and then spending hours roaming the River Walk or Southtown. There are now signs in front of nearly every parking spot warning they are designated for customers only, and the company managing Blue Star is taking enforcement of this seriously.<\/p>\n

\u201cTowing enforced 24 hrs a day \u2013 7 days a week. Blue Star Art Complex<\/a> customers and employees parking only in a designated space,\u201d signs posted at each drive way into the parking lots along Probandt Stret and South Alamo Street read. \u201cAll other vehicles are prohibited. Unauthorized vehicles will be towed at owners or operators expense.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a sign unfamiliar to most San Antonio, or even any city, dweller. This is not a city-owned parking lot but a place designed to ensure customers patronizing the bike shop, coffee place, eateries, artist space and more. That doesn\u2019t mean people aren\u2019t upset, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know. The whole thing is so upsetting. I go to that center several times a week. I\u2019m forever taking my girls on walks before I\u00a0go to dinner or something,\u201d one concerned local said in response to a warning that towing signs were up and being enforced. \u201cSo, am I gonna be towed for enjoying the public walk way before I visit a business?\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue Star is conveniently located right along the River Walk. In fact, there\u2019s direct access along a sidewalk that runs in front of the parking lot along South Almao Street.<\/p>\n

MySA reached out to both the property manager of Blue Star and the owner of Blue Star, Lifshutz Companies, to ask about whether patrons would be towed if strolling around before or after their purchase. Neither got back to MySA by the time of publication.<\/p>\n

Back in 2024, Shannon Broadnax, the vice president of operations at Lifshutz Companies, confirmed the company had plans to implement paid parking at Blue Star Arts Complex sometime in 2025 through LAZ Parking\u2019s Text to Park system \u2013 a familiar company in the Alamo City. Those plans have to solidify, and there\u2019s been no word on whether that\u2019s still the path moving forward.<\/p>\n

However, there are just as many people defending the parking restrictions, if not more, than those frustrated by it, turning the onus of parking problems back on the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, there were large bike groups that took a lion share of the parking for hours without patronizing the businesses that are responsible for the property tax bill and overhead on that property,\u201d another local said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to start asking public officials to provide ample affordable parking spaces for the public to enjoy the river.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warnings of major parking changes at one of the\u00a0last bastions of free parking along the river\u00a0in San Antonio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[847,820,82,84,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-252822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-mysanews","9":"tag-mysastaff","10":"tag-san-antonio","11":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","12":"tag-san-antonio-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}