RESIDENTS of the Baihua housing estate in Futian District have complained about a parking fee hike that will see parking fees at the housing estate increase from 500 to 1,000 yuan (US$82-163) per month starting Jan. 1 next year.

    The fee adjustment was made after the status of the parking lot at the estate was changed from residential to public, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.

    Built in the 1990s, Baihua has three buildings with 32 floors each and more than 700 households. Since there was a water treatment facility operating underground, Shenzhen Urban Construction Group, the property developer, decided to build a separate building for parking services.

    “The highest parking fee elsewhere is less than 300 yuan a month, but this one is 500 yuan per month on the first floor, 450 on the second floor, 350 on the third floor and 250 on the above-ground level,” said a woman surnamed Xia, who moved to the estate in 2010.

    A notice issued Dec. 8 shows the parking fee will increase to 1,000 yuan per month starting from next year due to the shift of property status. According to the notice, the parking lot was jointly invested in by entrepreneurs and the decision is the result of increasing costs of operation and employees’ salaries.

    “The parking lot is not public, but remains a part of the housing estate,” said a car owner surnamed Wang, who moved to the estate in 1997. He insisted that the parking lot’s operator doesn’t have the right to change the property status of the facility.

    The parking lot’s manager, surnamed Sheng, said the facility is owned by Jinrunfeng Investment Co. and that it hasn’t changed the price since 2006 because the company didn’t realize the difference between residential and public statuses.

    Residents have drafted a proposal to ask the government for an administrative review.

    (Luo Songsong)