Geneva to raise parking fines

Parking scofflaws may soon pay higher fines in Geneva, as the city is revising some of its fines for the first time since at least 2004.

Drivers who park in prohibited spots, or who park improperly, will be fined $25, up from the current $10, under a proposal aldermen have tentatively approved.

That would include people who park, without permits, in commuter-permit lots near the Metra station, or on streets where parking is restricted to residents.

Those who violate parking-time rules may also face increased fines, but aldermen haven't settled on how much. And they still want people to receive warnings first, so as not to discourage people from visiting downtown Geneva.

Several aldermen admitted to deliberately disobeying the timed parking rules, such as parking too early in a lot meant for shoppers, or too long in spaces on streets restricted to three hours.

"Sometimes I cannot find parking, and I appreciate those warnings. Couple times a year this happens," Alderman Don Cummings said during a recent committee discussion.

Alderman Tom Simonian agreed, saying it would target "Derelicts like me, who will park and pay the $10, because I think it is a great deal to park for nine hours. The intent is to get us out of there and get shoppers in there," he said.

The police department assigns one community service officer to monitor parking.

"The secret is out: The only time you are going to get a ticket is when I am working," CSO Brad Koontz told aldermen.

Koontz reported that in the first quarter of 2016, he wrote 473 tickets for people to disobeyed parking time rules. Of those tickets, 339 were warnings.

He does not write tickets during the month of December, when the downtown is filed with holiday shoppers, and during the Swedish Days festival in June.

Right now, if you violate parking times, you get a warning; tickets 2 and 3 are $2, tickets 4 through 10 are $15 apiece, tickets 14 through 20 are $20, and above that is $25. The count resets annually.

Alderman Jim Radecki proposed simplifying that, saying the second ticket should be $5, the third $10, the fourth $20 and five and beyond $25.

And he noted parking in downtown Geneva is a perennial issue for complaints. He served on an ad hoc parking committee 18 years ago, during his first stint on the city council.

"It was an issue then, it is an issue now," he said.

Geneva has added and expanded a parking deck near the Metra station since then and opened several other lots nearby.

Part of the problem is the desire to park near the train station on weekdays, or for employees of downtown businesses to park near their jobs. The daily-fee parking deck is usually filled to capacity by noon Monday through Thursday, and 75 percent on Friday, according to police Cmdr. Julie Nash.

There is an overflow lot about two blocks southeast of the station, but that typically is only 25 percent used on weekdays, Nash said. Pedestrians have to cross Route 31 to use it.

In the merchant lot north of the train station, free parking is permitted starting at 8:30 a.m. On average, eight cars park there illegally daily, and it is usually the same cars, according to Nash. One woman has told police that her company reimburses her for the fines.

Geneva sells 699 permits for commuter parking. There is a waiting list to get a permit. The wait time is less than a year.