Changes to Naperville’s overnight parking ordinance could be on the docket in the road ahead as city officials consider a number of possible scenarios.
Members of the Naperville Transportation Advisory Board are set to analyze the current setup and potentially offer up one or more recommendations, based on a recent directive from the city council.
Code bans overnight parking, though there are exceptions
Overnight parking accommodations have been discussed at various points in Naperville’s recent past. The issue bubbled back up to the surface at the city council’s Tuesday, April 21, meeting, as a report on the issue was reviewed from the city’s Transportation, Engineering, and Development department.
The report laid out three potential options for overnight parking in Naperville, including a possible expansion of the city’s existing overnight parking program that was enacted in early 2022. Other scenarios provide the option of citywide overnight parking on one or both sides of the street.
In general terms, Naperville’s current municipal code prohibits on-street parking between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. As noted in the report, Transportation Manager Michael Prousa said Naperville has had an overnight parking ban “since at least 1960.”
“The city began receiving concerns about compliance with the overnight parking ban around 2010,” Prousa wrote. “Many of the areas with lower compliance are townhome communities with limited parking options, due to shorter driveways and single-car garages.”
The city developed a pilot program in 2013 that eventually evolved into the overnight parking program that is currently in place. The existing program has narrow application within the city, available only to multi-family neighborhoods developed prior to 2015 with an active homeowners association.
Prousa noted residents outside the overnight parking program criteria continue to request added relief to the restrictions in place. Records indicate the city received 10,776 requests for overnight parking allowances last year.
The TED department’s report recommended changing the municipal code, allowing overnight parking from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. on one side of the street and eliminating the current overnight parking program that currently is in place.
Residents offer considerations during public comment
At the recent council meeting, residents shared a number of perspectives on overnight parking accommodations through oral and written comments.
Resident Marilyn Schweitzer implored the council to consider broader implications, such as possible impacts to leaf cleanup in the fall and the administrative factors of a permitting process, as different scenarios are explored.
“The overnight parking ordinance warrants broader discussion and more thorough consideration than what has been outlined in the agenda. Please leave the overnight parking policy unchanged for now,” Schweitzer said. “Our community faces more important issues that require staff’s attention.”
When reviewing the pros and cons of the current code, and potential changes to the ordinance, resident Tim Messer said the considerations on the table are complex.
“Allowing overnight parking is not a universal win for the community. It may immediately improve life for a subset of people, but I don’t believe it improves the community as a whole,” Messer said. “I realize this is a difficult issue. You’re not going to make everyone happy with whatever you decide.”
In written comments, resident Chris Santucci shared the perspective of someone living adjacent to North Central College, where on-street parking during school hours and on weekends “is already extremely limited.”
“Vehicles are frequently parked outside designated areas, further compounding the issue,” Santucci wrote. “My concern is that simply eliminating the overnight parking ban, or exempting one side of the street, would result in streets surrounding the college and downtown areas being perpetually full and effectively treated as long-term parking.”
Council refers issue to Transportation Advisory Board
During deliberations, a number of councilmembers at the recent meeting indicated they were not prepared to move forward with an official vote on a change at this point. The council voted unanimously in favor of forwarding the issue on to the Transportation Advisory Board for a deeper review.
The staff report indicated a fiscal impact of $2,000 for signage costs, though Councilman Nate Wilson said there could be broader financial considerations if changes are made — particularly from the standpoint of police enforcement.
“Around the fiscal impact, I would foresee it exceeding the $2,000 amount, just with regard to enforcement,” Wilson said. “I realize people have called in about this, but I could see people calling in more about it if it’s not done on a particular day and then exceeding the days.”
On the matter of enforcement, Mayor Scott Wehrli said a complaint-based system could be one possibility to consider. Wehrli also indicated he fielded comments from a number of residents and, at times, had to correct misinformation.
“There is a lot of information; some of it is true, and some of it is not so true,” Wehrli said. “There’s a perception by several of the persons I heard from that they have a right to the space in front of their home, and this ordinance would allow them to use that space in front of their home. That’s not necessarily the case on a public street. You can’t reserve space in front of your house.”
Several officials, including Councilman Patrick Kelly, pointed to changes within Naperville neighborhoods as the community has evolved over time as another factor worthy of consideration.
“I do think times have changed, economically,” said Kelly, who described the issue as “a tricky problem.”
“Family-wise, you do just have more people living in homes, more generations, and so it is kind of a newish problem,” Kelly added. “If it’s a problem for the city, we should try to look at solving it, but it’s a tough one.”
From a practical standpoint, Councilman Benny White said a blanket citywide ordinance might not be the best course of action.
“I don’t think a one-size-fits-all approach is going to work because Naperville is made up of different types of streets,” said White, who also pointed out varying speed limits in different areas of the community. “As far as I’m concerned, those are things that need to be considered.”
Councilman Ian Holzhauer took aim at one statistic city officials shared and said he is prepared to consider a change to current practice.
“When I hear that 9,334 people were cited (for overnight parking) last year, I don’t look at that as a cause of celebration,” Holzhauer said. “I look at that as a sign that the way people want to live in Naperville is not aligned with what we up here are thinking.”
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