Geneva wants to stop workers from parking in front of businesses

Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Geneva City Council has been asked again to change some parking rules in the downtown, to discourage downtown workers from parking in front of businesses.

According to Jean Gaines, Geneva Chamber of Commerce executive director, employee parking has been a problem the entire 30 years she's worked for the chamber.

"Some day we have to find a place for employee parking," she said, noting that even she sometimes has trouble finding a space to park and get to her downtown office.

Monday night specifically, the city council, meeting as a committee of the whole, voted 8-1 to agree with parking changes proposed for the public lot in front of the businesses at 211 James St. and for on-street parking on the west side of South Second, between James and Campbell streets.

The lone dissenter was 3rd Ward Alderman Dawn Vogelsberg, who is a member of the city's Geneva business committee, which hashed out the recommendation in March. The mayor, at city staff's recommendation, held off on putting this on an agenda until after the new parking deck by the Metra station, several blocks to the south, opened in mid-September.

If the council formally approves the action Monday, the nine nine-hour spaces in front of the Nosh restaurant and Lumina, The Art of Photography businesses in the lot on James will become three-hour spaces. The nine three-hour spaces on South Second will become nine-hour spaces. The building used to be a warehouse. The Nosh opened eight months ago.

Downtown employees were roundly criticized by the aldermen and several business owners in the audience for parking in front of businesses, taking up spots they believe should serve customers. The owner of the Nosh, Mike Dixon, said that in particular employees of the Geneva Public Library, at 127 James St., have been parking in the lot. Last month the Geneva library decided to rent 10 spaces for its workers from the lot of the DuPage Library System headquarters, 127 S. First St., because patrons have been complaining they can't find a space near the library. The library does not have a parking lot.

Downtown business employees can park in the courthouse of the old Kane County Courthouse about a block-and-a-half west of the area in question.

"Each time we make a move like this, every new business will come in and ask for something," said Vogelsberg. The businesses in question knew what the parking standards were when they opened, she said; "we didn't pull the rug out from them."

Second Ward Alderman Robert Piper disagreed, however, saying that as downtown business buildings change uses -- to and from retail, service, restaurant and office uses -- the city should be flexible about making parking changes.