Submitted By
Tammie Grossman, Development Customer Service Director
Agenda Item Title
Title
Discussion of the Overnight Parking Ban
End
Overview
Overview
Per a motion by Trustee Andrews and seconded by Trustee Buchanan and Trustee Walker-Peddakotla, this item was placed on the agenda.
Pursuant to 15-1-2 of the Village Code, the Chief of Police has the authority to make or enforce temporary traffic and parking regulations to cover emergencies or special circumstances. Since March 13, 2020, due to the Covid 19 emergency, the Chief of Police has authorized the relaxation of all of the on-street daytime parking restrictions including street cleaning restrictions and the overnight parking restrictions. On July 13, 2020, the relaxation of the restrictions were due to expire to coincide with the Fourth of July holiday, Trustee Andrew requested that the relaxation of the overnight parking ban continue until the Village Board had the opportunity to discuss the matter further. Trustee Buchanan and Trustee Walker-Peddakotla seconded the request.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
If the overnight parking ban is modified, staff will bring forth ordinance changes at a subsequent Board meeting.
Body
Report
Attached to the agenda item is a history of the Village’s Overnight Parking ban.
On May 14, 2018, staff presented a parking pilot program that would have altered the overnight parking ban to allow residents that purchased an on-street overnight parking permit to park throughout the Village and parkers would not be restricted to specific overnight zones. On street overnight parking permits currently cost $117 to $137 per quarter or $468 to $546 annually depending on location. In high demand areas, only one car per address may purchase a permit unless there are available spaces for a second car which is handled at the end of a quarter through a waitlist system. Since the overnight parking zones can cover a large geographic distance, sometimes parkers are required to park blocks away from their home. Due to the overnight parking ban, parkers are required to park on designated streets but there may be a closer street nearer their home. The staff proposal would have allowed residents greater flexibility to park by allowing permit holders to park on any residential street with a valid permit rather than specific areas. As an alternative, staff presented a back-up proposal to expand the overnight zones to nearby parking meter locations instead of residential streets. The Village Board decided to move forward with the alternative proposal to allow permit holders to park at meters. See attached May 14, 2018 PowerPoint and Board minutes.
On July 16, 2018, staff presented a follow up parking pilot presentation to address additional non-overnight parking issues that were raised during the May 14, 2018 presentation. See attached July 16, 2018 PowerPoint and minutes.
On October 15, 2018, the Village Board adopted the Parking Pilot recommendations. As a result, the following changes were made in the parking pilot area bordered by Harlem and Oak Park Ave and Harrison and South Boulevard. See attached History of the Parking Pilot meetings.
o Standardized all on-street daytime restrictions to 3 hours.
o Established a pass system for residents to request an override of the on-street daytime restrictions for guests
o Allowed on-street overnight permit holders to park at designated meters to increase spaces available in overnight on-street zones
o Extended parking meter collection to 8pm in Downtown Oak Park, Pleasant and Hemingway Districts
o Established a graduated parking pricing structure for the business district parking meters to encourage long-term parkers to go to the parking garage structures
On March 2, 2020, the Village Board amended the daytime parking restrictions in the pilot area to remove the 3 hour daytime restrictions from two residential blocks and add a 2 hour daytime parking restriction to the parking pilot area.
Staff had planned on conducting an extensive survey of the residents in the parking pilot area in the Spring of 2020. However, due to the Covid 19 crisis and the relaxation of the parking restrictions, staff believes that the survey should be put on hold. After the survey was conducted, the Transportation Commission was going to hold a series of public meetings. The results of the survey and public meetings would have been presented to the Village Board for a review of the Parking Pilot. While initially, the staff did receive some negative feedback about the pilot specifically the addition of meters on Madison, the majority of residents have expressed positive comments to staff. In particular, residents like the ability to expand the overnight zone by using the meters and residents like the Passport pass system which allows their guests to override the daytime parking restrictions.
Alternatives
The Village Board could ask staff for an additional meeting to discuss further.