Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Community Meeting Regarding Permit Parking In Magnolia Malden Neighbors Block Club Area

Residential permit parking has been proposed for the 4600 and 4700 blocks of Magnolia and Malden, and a community meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 24th, at 7pm at Truman College (1145 West Wilson) to discuss it. Ald. Cappleman and the Magnolia Malden Neighbors block club are hosting the meeting. Residents living on those four blocks will have the opportunity to vote [update: on August 1st] on whether or not they want permit parking.

If permit parking is approved, some things are set in stone by the city:
  • Residents who have vehicles registered at an address within the zone area will have the opportunity to purchase an annual street parking permit for $25 (on top of the regular city sticker fee).  Your vehicle must have a valid city sticker to have an annual parking permit.
  • No one is required to purchase a residential permit, although if you park on the street during the hours permit parking is in effect, your vehicle must display either a residential permit or a guest pass, or you risk getting a parking ticket.  If you use an off-street parking space, consider how often you park your vehicle on the street, and whether it's worth it to pay $25 annually or if you'd be okay using guest passes, or if you need either option.
  • Anyone living within the zone who can prove that they live there (drivers license, mail, utility bill, etc.) can buy daily guest stickers in increments of 15 for $8, with a maximum of 30 per month. Each sticker is good for a 24-hour period and can be purchased at the alderman's office, any City Clerk's office, by mail, or online.  You don't need to own a vehicle to purchase guest passes, but you do need to live in the zoned area.
  • It won't happen immediately. The city has to take a survey to make sure a certain percentage of cars parked in the proposed zone belong to non-residents.  The City Council has to give their okay. CDOT has to come out and put up street signs and notify residents that a change will be taking place. We live in a city of red tape. Some patience will be required.
If permit parking is approved, some things can be determined by the community and alderman, and these are issues that will likely be discussed at the meeting at Truman:
  • Buffer streets. Will residents living on nearby streets be able to purchase annual parking and daily guest passes to park within the zone?  If so, what streets should be included in the buffer zone?
  • Hours of enforcement.  Permit parking could be in effect 24 hours a day, or only from 6pm to 6am, or any other time period determined by the residents and alderman.  Think about when you're unable to find parking near your home due to non-residents parking there -- is it when Truman College is in session? When there are concerts at the Riviera and Aragon? Is there a criminal element that you're trying to discourage from parking on your street?  Enforcement hours are something else that will likely be discussed at the meeting.
Residential permit parking is nothing new to Uptown.  It's already in effect in several areas (take a look at the map here), although we have very little compared to Lakeview and Ravenswood.  (We have more than Edgewater, which essentially has none south of Granville.)

If you have strong feelings one way or the other about the subject, we urge you to show up at the meeting at Truman College and be heard.  A Facebook page for the meeting has been created.

Update from Magnolia Malden Neighbors:

"More information about the Permit Parking meeting on June 24th.
Voting will be open until August 1st, so there will be plenty of time to register your vote - yea, or nay. There will be more meetings as well. Ours is the first. All details will be discussed at the meeting.
For more information, contact the Alderman's office."

4 comments:

  1. Permit parking should be on concert nights only DON'T people pay enough Taxes as it is the city is so hungry for money sooner or later they will raise the fee FOR permit parking to why they don't use TRUMAN parking for concert go ers jam production makes so much money but they don't invest in the community.

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  2. Will this help to deter the gangs? It is no silver bullet, but maybe can deter.

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  3. it will definitely increase appeal to upcoming residents...

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