53 weeks, $52,000 to say, parking's OK

More than a year ago, Wheaton paid parking consultants at least $52,000 to solve their downtown parking congestion problems.

On Monday, the city council found out there is no downtown parking problem -- yet.

Walker Parking Consultants delivered a report to the council that was initially supposed to take only a maximum of 21 weeks to complete. That was 53 weeks ago.

City council members peppered consultants with questions about the meaning and validity of the numbers in the study. For one, the entire study is based on just two snapshots of downtown parking, one Thursday and one Saturday. Both snapshots included only the 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. timeframe.

Those questions aside, the study showed there is adequate parking downtown, just not necessarily in the areas the city would like it to be. That may mean a parking shortage of as much as 757 spots in the northwest quadrant of the downtown in the next five years as redevelopment occurs.

Still, the consultants recommended against building any more parking garages in the immediate future.

If increased demand does occur, the study considered five places to build a new parking garage. Those include behind city hall, at the library and adjacent to the Wheaton Grand Theater.

Of those, the consultants said a 260-space, five-level parking garage adjacent to the theater is the best option with the most known factors.

That plan fits in perfectly with the city's recently identified No. 1 priority, which is assisting in the revitalization of the theater.

Construction of the envisioned theater garage would require the purchase and demolition of the Masonic Temple downtown.

The council will meet again with parking consultants in the next two weeks to review further details of the study.