KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Some business owners in the Crossroads are concerned about a recent uptick in parking violations.  “If they try to fit inside the white line on Main Street and get their tire on the curb, they get a ticket for parking on the sidewalk, which is $85,” said Bradley Gilmore, the owner of Lula Southern Cookhouse.  Two men charged in connection to ‘major’ drug bust in Kansas City Gilmore says he’s not against paid parking downtown but wants to ensure that prices and penalties are fair so that people continue returning to districts like the Crossroads.  “So we're worried about the type of tickets being written. We're worried about the frequency of tickets being written. We're not worried about them coming after the cars that have been parked for two to three days, invalid tags, all of those things we are all for. But it shouldn't also cost $30 to park,” Gilmore said. Business owners in the Crossroads are already facing issues with cars being broken into and stolen.  “I want to open more businesses in the crossroads. I love the crossroads. But I can't viably do that if my patrons are going to have to pay so much money to be down here and risk their car getting stolen. We need more protection,” Gilmore said.  He’s also concerned about how parking costs add up every hour and the price people must pay if ticketed.  “I think the aggressiveness of it going from 0 to 60, going from Monday through Friday until 6:00, paid parking and everything else free, to now (paid parking) seven days a week, all day long. It's just too aggressive for Kansas City right now,” Gilmore explained.  Some choose to bypass parking downtown altogether. “I take the streetcar because parking is terrible downtown; it's just hard to find a parking space,” said Christina Jones.  Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas responded to some of Gilmore's concerns over the weekend, noting that most parking enforcement is handled through a private contractor for the public works department.  “I think we need to make sure that we're looking at our penalties. Not everything's the same. Not all challenges are the same, and that, frankly, we do the work to try to make sure we're addressing these issues in a really fair way,” Lucas told FOX4 on Monday.  Lucas plans to work with small business owners to balance necessary enforcement action with accessibility for patrons and workers.  Gilmore said 12 other small business owners have contacted him with similar concerns. They plan to invite city leaders to hear their concerns and discuss solutions.  Memorial set up for 5-year-old killed in Lexington home explosion “Hopefully, we can make some changes because we're all advocating for the city to grow, and with growth comes paid parking just like every other large city,” Gilmore explained. “I think there are some compromises that the restaurants can make, and I think there [are] compromises that the city can make." Lucas said the city’s parking app could be used to resolve some of these concerns.  “So we're requiring a lot of people to engage with this technology, but at the same time not actually taking advantage of all of those positives of technology. We ought to explore all of that. I want Kansas City, Crossroads, and downtown to be as easy to go as anywhere,” Lucas said. ...read more read less