Commission OKs expansion plan for more Naperville parking
Naperville's plan commission would like to see parking for commuters maximized near the downtown train station and also say building height in that area should not exceed 50 feet.
Those two provisions are among the only areas in which commissioners deviated from city staff as they approved the land use portion of the Fifth Avenue Study Wednesday night. It will likely go before city council Aug. 18.
The study makes recommendations for future land use around the Metra station and both sides of Washington Street between Benton and Ogden avenues. The study also includes commuter parking, transportation and streetscape in the area.
Commuter parking has long been an issue for the city as some people spend years waiting to get a parking permit.
City planners say they have been trying to create a balance between providing parking and providing easy access to other forms of transportation. They want to create a bus depot south of the tracks and an 842-space parking deck north of them. They also recommend either the Kroehler Lot or former public works site east of the station be used for parking, but not both.
Commissioners deviated from that proposal and voted to 5-2 to allow parking on both of those properties.
"I think in this instance a sea of parking is appropriate given ... the absence of available street parking and I think this may be the highest and best use for this area to meet the commuter parking needs," Commissioner Ann Edmonds said.
Commissioners also sided with residents who asked that building height in the study area be limited to 50 feet. Staff had recommended 50 feet for most of the area but 60 feet on the west side of Washington Street south of Franklin Avenue close to downtown.
Commissioners concurred on the major land uses city staff recommends including commercial uses along Washington between Ogden and Fifth avenues.
Mixed use such as office, neighborhood retail and residential, is recommended for the Boecker property on the south side of Fifth Avenue between Center and Ellsworth, properties along Center Street just south of the tracks and those on Washington Street south of the tracks.
On Ellsworth Street just south of Fourth Avenue, planners are calling for medium-density residential uses.
Several entities are working on proposals for pieces of the study area they hope will fit in with the final city council land use designations. Proposals include a condo development on Ellsworth between North and Fourth avenues, large-scale performing arts center with retail and residential uses north of the tracks and a development anchored by a YMCA facility on the former public works site just east of the train station.