Antioch sets new limits on park hours

When the streetlights came on, a young Shawn Roby knew it was time to leave the park and head home.

It’s an age-old rule that Roby, now Antioch’s director of parks and recreation, said kids today don’t follow.

In an effort to establish a new guideline, Antioch trustees voted Monday night to add time restrictions to the village’s park ordinance giving visitors a clear-cut time frame of when parks are opened and closed.

“Instead of having a subjective measure we’re going to have an objective one,” Roby said.

The 10 village parks will now be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. from April 1 to Oct. 30 and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. the rest of the year. The ordinance previously stated the parks were open from “dusk to dawn.”

The change is a response to vandalism and criminal activities that often take place after dark.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a problem lately, it’s happened for a long time,” Roby said.“When you have people in the parks after hours it’s usually not of something of good substance going on.”

Police Chief Craig Somerville said officers are aware that some people use the park area to park vehicles overnight and avoid detection at properties from which they are banned. The revised ordinance will include prohibiting people from parking their vehicles overnight in nearby lots, giving police another tool to limit after-hours activity in the parks.

“We want to keep our parks safe and enjoyable,” Somerville said. “A set time resolves that issue.”

Somerville said police will use a progressive approach, giving written warnings for first offenders and citations for repeat offenders.