Poised for a parking crunch?
Regulars at downtown Libertyville shops and restaurants know how tough it can be to find a parking space almost any time of day.
That's not an entirely bad situation for a community. It signifies interest and vitality.
But if several restaurants open before a planned parking deck is built, will finding a spot become so difficult people avoid the area?
"It's a nice problem to have, but a problem nonetheless," said Randy Nelson, executive director of MainStreet Libertyville, a downtown revitalization group. "We literally talk about it every week."
Officials realize more parking is needed and are going through the process of getting a deck built on village-owned property on the southeast corner of Brainerd Avenue and Lake Street. The deck would have at least 300 spaces, which is 200 more than what are now downtown.
But it's a race to beat the big construction equipment grinding away on a long-awaited Manchester Square, at Lake Street and Milwaukee Avenue. As many as four new restaurants could open there in about a year.
"People don't want to have to worry about parking their car when they're going out to dinner to have a good time," said Bradley Navarro, project manager for Walker Parking Consultants, which will design the deck.
Village officials just completed the brainstorming part of the deck design, but haven't selected a final plan and are months away from considering bids for the project. Construction is expected to take eight months to a year.
"Time is a factor," acknowledged Mayor Jeff Harger.
Whether there will be a lag with a subsequent parking crunch or how long it would be depends on a variety of factors, such as the type of construction used to build the deck and the progress at Manchester.
That about 140 existing parking spaces will be taken out of service during construction of the deck heightens the fears of some shopkeepers.
Restaurateur Rick Jansen is part owner of The Tavern and Firkin restaurants and has been in business downtown for 24 years.
He has been the most vocal business person on the subject and may have the most dire outlook. But there is universal concern about potential parking gridlock.
Jansen envisions the possibility of 650 new restaurant seats opening almost simultaneously, putting pressure on an already short parking supply. The problem will be exponentially worse if the deck construction isn't finished, he said.
"Hopefully it will all coincide," said Pam Lockowitz, owner of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. She also was one of four property or business owners who met with the village's parking consultant for a report released in June 2006.
That report found that the village's downtown would likely fall short of demand by 101 parking spaces during the summer and 223 parking spaces in the winter.
"When they do actually build the structure, we'll be crunched. We're hoping our loyal customer will put up with the inconvenience," she added.
Would customers be willing to walk longer distances? Would valet or shuttle service be efficient or effective? How patient would customers be before avoiding the area?
Jansen said a critical loss of business is a real possibility. Others are anxiously waiting.
Jansen said he would have to dramatically change the way he does business. He said he has already investigated valet services, for example.
Another major consideration is the cost of the deck. Trustees have informally agreed to sell a strip of property along the west side for the development of townhouses to abut the deck as a means of defraying the cost, but the parking will still come with a hefty price tag.
Typical costs are $17,000 to $25,000 per stall, according to Navarro. In that case, a 300-space deck would range from $5.1 to $7.5 million.
Part of the money will come from a new program in which developers can pay a fee rather than provide parking spaces.
The first business to do that is just down the block from Manchester Square, paying the village $255,000 in lieu of providing 17 parking spaces. That could be one of the new restaurant locations.
Although Manchester Square developer Joe Tremont will build 23 at-grade spaces in addition to parking beneath the building, he is essentially exempt from what normally would be required because the project is considered a renovation rather than a new structure.
Which has become part of the problem.
"One of the things I think our code is deficient in is the number of (parking) spaces we require for restaurants," Trustee Bob Peron said. He pointed out that neither Firkin nor The Tavern have parking beyond what's available on the street or in the public lot.
"They never provided any more parking either," Peron said. "Shame on us for allowing that to happen. Shame on Joe (Tremont) for putting four restaurants in there and not providing enough parking."