Elburn businesses plead to keep church parking lot open

Owners of downtown Elburn businesses begged the village board Monday to do something to keep a Main Street parking lot open to the public.

For more than a decade, the Community Congregational Church of Elburn has allowed public parking, as a courtesy, in a 40-space lot on the southeast corner of Shannon and Main streets.

But the financially strapped congregation put the lot up for sale last fall and has decided it would be more marketable if it isn’t full of parked cars, according to the congregation’s moderator, Sharon Lackey.

In a letter sent to the village and the Elburn Chamber of Commerce earlier this month, the church said it will close the lot March 15.

The church first offered to sell the lot to the village before listing it for $250,000 in September. The village declined the offer.

Kevin Schmidt, owner of Schmidt’s Towne Tap, called a meeting of business owners on Monday.

“We really feel that the bottom line is, the village really needs to buy that lot,” he said.

He owns a lot and allows the public to park in it along with his patrons. But if the church’s lot closes, there may not be room on Main to accommodate shoppers and employees. Schmidt said there are only 30 spots on Main from North Street to Shannon.

But Village President Dave Anderson said Elburn doesn’t have the money to buy the lot, and he doesn’t believe Elburn taxpayers should be responsible for providing downtown parking. He pointed out there is public parking at the village hall on North, three blocks east of Main. But Schmidt and others said people don’t want to walk that far to conduct their business.

Anderson disagreed, saying while people say they don’t want to park off Main, they will walk the equivalent distance from their car to shop at Geneva Commons in Geneva.

Anderson suggested business owners should approach the church to find out what it would take to keep the lot open. Some in the audience suggested leasing.

Trustee Jeff Walter suggested that while the village may not give money, it could lend expertise.

“I think we can at least offer to start leading this to some direction, to start the coalition — what does the church need, what are they looking for,” he said.

Resident Harley Veldhuisen suggested the village could buy the lot by establishing a special property tax to be levied on downtown properties.

Village administrator Erin Willrett agreed to contact business owners and church leaders to see if a compromise can be found.

Lackey was not at the meeting. The church no longer wants the responsibility of maintaining and insuring the lot, and it could use the money for other purposes such as building repairs, she said.

Church membership has declined to less than 100, and average weekend worship attendance to about 45, she said. That can be accommodated by another lot the church owns north of the sanctuary.

“For the last couple of years we have been running at a deficit,” Lackey said. “Selling the parking lot would buy us more time.”