Initially, shoppers could park at Kings Plaza free of charge. In mid-1983, the owners of the mall proposed instituting a 50-cent parking charge to pay for improvements and the private security force, to be collected starting in October 1983. Shoppers' reactions toward the proposed fee were mixed, but local residents vehemently opposed the fee, causing its implementation to be delayed. The same month that parking fee collection was to start, community leaders organized a protest against the proposed fees. The parking fee was put in place in January 1984 and lasted four days before the New York City government ordered the mall to stop collecting the fee until a study on environmental impacts could be completed. Later that month, the parking fee was reinstated after the city's Departments of Environmental Protection and Buildings found no adverse effects would be caused by the fee, which was collected upon exit from the parking lot.