June 13, 2006 - Council (and COW) Meeting

[Ana]

Scoon,

I want to know what money grubbing developer got the 25 foot lot approved and where?  Why do they do this, yes to one, no to another?  Keep it simple "NO TO ALL 25 FOOT LOTS!!!"  What is so difficult?  And then they wonder why we have parking issues, speeding issues and school overcrowding issues!  DUH.

Ana

[Boris]

OK...I've seen this issue come up before, so at the risk of looking like a dummy, I have to ask- what's the issue with 25-foot lots?
I ask as a Chicago refugee, where all lots are 25-footers.

[Berwyn Patsy]

My concern has always been the safety issue, of what about if there is a fire?  How does the fire department get to a bedroom which is usually located in the middle of the gangway on the upper floors? I grew up in a building on a 25 foot lot, and no exaggeration could hear my neighbors going to the bathroom.  I guess I would like to think the city and fire department have some safety policy written  on this, or if they do not think it's a issue, why not??
Being the typical woman that I am I could probably be swayed since riding around in my old neighborhood (Cicero) I have seen many tear downs going on.  these same 25 foot lots are being replaced with new houses and for a moment you might think you were in the Lincoln Park area.  I know, if Mike Adams or Mike Phelan are reading this, they are shaking their heads, probably saying "Did Berwyn Patsy really just say she was re-considering her thinking on 25 foot lots"??

[OakParkSpartan]

Drive by 1325 Home.  The distance between the hole for the foundation and the home immediately to the south can't be much more than a foot or two.  Combine several lots and build rowhouses/townhouses.  But to me single family homes on thes lots are still something I am uncertain about.  I go back and forth.

Cheers,
Brian

[robertcarr]

Not that I've noticed myself, but I think the previous post about the 7-11 is referring to the Stuff and Maxim magazines, which are placed in the front and are not covered at the stores. They're not considered pornography, so they don't have to be covered. But they're pretty close...

- Robert Carr

[Matryoshka]

There should not be different rules for what is acceptable and what isn't based on the block you live on - in the same city!!

I think there should be different parking laws for different blocks in any city -i.e. if you live on a block that's close to commercial businesses which attract a lot of cars, you wouldn't want the patrons of the stores taking up all the parking on your block. There are other instances too, where zone parking or residential parking should be enforced, such as areas w/ schools. Areas which have grade schools are not so bothersome, therefore they may have residential parking between 8:00am and 10:00am, but it's the areas w/ high schools which seem to be a problem, as the students who drive are taking up much of the residents' parking between the hours of 8:00am and 3:00pm. This is why there are blocks around the high school w/zone parking or res parking between 8:00am and 3:00pm.

[scoon]

I think there should be different parking laws for different blocks in any city -i.e. if you live on a block that's close to commercial businesses which attract a lot of cars, you wouldn't want the patrons of the stores taking up all the parking on your block. There are other instances too, where zone parking or residential parking should be enforced, such as areas w/ schools. Areas which have grade schools are not so bothersome, therefore they may have residential parking between 8:00am and 10:00am, but it's the areas w/ high schools which seem to be a problem, as the students who drive are taking up much of the residents' parking between the hours of 8:00am and 3:00pm. This is why there are blocks around the high school w/zone parking or res parking between 8:00am and 3:00pm.

Agreed, but the ordinance as written now allows for all the blocks in Berwyn to have a different parking policy.  That, on it's face, is ridiculous.  Standard parking enforcement for various situations is needed, but allowing for that many different scenarios is just confusing. 

Also, I do agree that you don't want store patron parking taking up all the spaces on your block, but think of it conversely... with as much of a struggle as it is to keep decent businesses here in Berwyn, why would you want to restrict patron parking?

[jqpublic]

I still can't help but wonder why it's so hard for the city to ban non-resident, overnight parking. Citywide.

[OakParkSpartan]

I don't know jq.  You must still deal with visitors.  Oak Park has a system that seems to be tried and true.  It works. Not always the most convenient, but gets the job done.

It sure beats having "passes" with your address on it.  Does any other suburb in Chicago do this passes thing?  Other than the City?  To me, it is just yet another reason why people will find a reason to avoid visiting Berwyn.  But at least Joel will have space to park his car on the street.

Cheers,
Brian

[scoon]

But at least Joel will have space to park his car on the street.

Just not on the 1200 block of Wesley.

[jqpublic]

Oak Park has a system that seems to be tried and true.  It works. Not always the most convenient, but gets the job done.

What, exactly, is Oak Park's system?

[OakParkSpartan]

No Parking 2am to 6am.

Every car must either park in a lot, or have private parking (a 'lot' is very broad.  Street parking in certain areas may be considered a lot.).

If you are going to park on the street overnight, you must phone in the location, model, and license of the car to the OP PD.  That gets you permission to park on the street overnight. 

We could certainly adapt the system for Berwyn.

Once you get used to it, it works pretty well.

Cheers,
Brian

[mmorrison]

Having lived in Oak Park, I can say that their parking system only works because they've got a bunch of lots scattered around for parking purposes.  Berwyn doesn't.  We live in an apartment with one space per car in back of the building.  We have two cars.  One has to be parked on the street.  I really don't see how an outright overnight parking ban would work here in Berwyn without more parking lots available.

[jqpublic]

If you are going to park on the street overnight, you must phone in the location, model, and license of the car to the OP PD.  That gets you permission to park on the street overnight. 

What if you have 3 cars in your household and only a 2 car garage?

[OakParkSpartan]

Rent a garage space, rent private parking, or get a spot in a lot...Parking in a lot is about $100 per quarter, or it was 3 years ago.

Cheers,
Brian

[jqpublic]

Rent a garage space, rent private parking, or get a spot in a lot...Parking in a lot is about $100 per quarter, or it was 3 years ago.

That will never work around here. There aren't enough lots, private parking, or open garage spots in Berwyn and there's no space to build any lots. And that's just for the people who bother to buy vehicle stickers.

[T-Stan RPCV]

It really isn't all that difficult.  We do need parking restrictions and the program needs to be as simple as possible.  A complex plan simply won't work (KISS - keep it simple stupid)

There is already a vehicle sticker program in place to identify residents vs. non-residents.  Why not resident parking only 2AM-6AM?  A call in system to leave a recorded message like Oak Park for guests and a few specific needs areas to accommodate business/commuter areas?

It ain't f'n rocket science here.  My concern is they come up with cluster fk plan that won't work then the parking issue gets put on the shelf for another decade because the "it won't work in Berwyn" attitude kicks in.

[OakParkSpartan]

That's exactly where we are headed T-Stan.  Using a half-baked plan as justification that "it won't work here...we have special needs".  Yes, our cars are different in Berwyn.  Other communities also don't have apartments, visitors nor hospitals.

Cheers,
Brian

[jqpublic]

I'm wondering, where would Berwyn build off-street parking lots? Where's the space? For the life of me, I cannot see the problem with resident's only parking overnight. Have a visitor? It isn't that much of a big deal to me to have them put a pass in the window. You ain't asking them for a kidney. Why not deal with that in the short-term and work out a more comprehensive (if not impossible to implement) plan in the long run? Cicero has a parking ban and the residen's without stickers on the west end of town just move their cars over to the Berwyn side. No problem.

The biggest obstacle are the residents who bitch to their alderman because buying stickers for their 9 cars is going to cost too much money.

It would be a cash cow for the city.

[T-Stan RPCV]

Cicero has a parking ban and the residen's without stickers on the west end of town just move their cars over to the Berwyn side. No problem.

The biggest obstacle are the residents who bitch to their alderman because buying stickers for their 9 cars is going to cost too much money.

Those are exactly the 2 reasons why we must have a parking plan.  Oak Park and Cicero both have resident only restrictions so they simply cross over Lombard or Roosevelt and park in Berwyn. 

Families with collections of junk cars should pay more for the extra space they take on the streets.