Parking problems are nothing new for downtown Tempe, but ASU's rising parking rates could make things even more crowded, some local restaurants said.
For restaurants like Ruby Tuesday, located on at Mill Avenue and University Drive, parking is a constant struggle, said District Manager Bobbi Frye.
"It's a real hassle," she said. "We have a lot with 22 spaces and it's not even close to enough."
Most of Ruby Tuesday's customers are unaware their parking lot even exists, Frye said.
"I had a customer come in today and ask 'Where do we park?'" she said. "That's a daily occurrence."
Even the customers who are able to locate the lot may have trouble finding a parking spot, Frye said.
"I have customers that complain because our lot fills up," she said. "Then they park at Jack In The Box and get towed and they want us to pay the towing bill."
College Street Deli, located just north of University Drive on College Avenue, has issues with students parking in their lot, said manager Jesse Bello.
As a result, he said the deli monitors its parking lot very closely.
"We do own the parking lot and we do all the towing," he said. "Some people get away with it, but we'll catch them sooner or later."
Ruby Tuesday's lot is difficult to monitor because of its location behind the Chase bank building, Frye said.
With next year's price increase for ASU parking decals, Frye and Bello said they predict more students will begin to use the restaurants' lots.
Frye said the city should increase the number of parking spaces available.
"They need to build a big old parking garage or five," she said. "They need to tear down the Jack In The Box and the Chili's across the street and build one there."
ASU is doing all it can to provide students with adequate parking, said Mark Krug, Parking and Transit Services spokesman.
"Parking is something that is a purchased commodity," he said "Anytime someone doesn't want to pay for something, they are going to take advantage of that in some other place."
Still, buying a parking pass is more cost-effective than risking getting cited or towed, Krug said.
"You're running the risk of receiving citations that are costing more than it would to purchase a pass," he said. "You're better off just purchasing one."
History junior George Sarafin said he thinks raising the price of decals will only make ASU's parking problem worse.
"If people can't afford the decal, they'll just end up parking in the meters or in the church parking lot or something," he said.
Sarafin said he has never run the risk of parking in a business lot.
"I used to just come and park and try to beat the meters, but they're only an hour long," he said.
Sarafin said he usually does not have a problem parking in downtown Tempe.
"Most of the time, if I'm going to Mill Avenue I'll use the meters," he said. "In Tempe the meters work well."
Tempe's meters allow customers to park for longer periods of time, Sarafin said.
The meters let people park for up to 80 minutes in some lots.
Reach the reporter at kelsey.perry@asu.edu.
