More limits for Geneva High School parking

Has there been a year recently where Geneva High School students' parking habits didn't show up on a Geneva City Council agenda?

2009 won't be that year, as the council Monday voted to extend on-street parking restrictions even farther away from the school.

This time, it is eliminating parking on one side of North Sixth Street, from Ford to Stevens streets, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. It came at the request of Fire Chief Steve Olson when the fire department discovered that with cars on both sides, fire trucks could barely squeeze through and equipment bays on the trucks could not be opened.

The parkers, the city determined, are Geneva High School students.

There's nothing new about Geneva students parking on the residential streets around the school. There is a parking lot right across from the main entrance to the school on McKinley Avenue. There's also a lot at Burgess Field, but students don't like that because it is about a half-mile away from the nearest entrance to the school. In contrast, Sixth Street is about a third of a mile away.

Only juniors and seniors can park at the school. And they have to pay for a permit.

Over the past 13 years, at least, the city has restricted daytime on-street parking in the neighborhood around the school. On some streets, residents need a permit to park on their street during school hours.

But what irks some city council members more than the teens is school district policy. Aldermen Chuck Brown and Sam Hill, who represent the area, contend that the problem would be reduced if the school made parking in the Burgess lot free, to encourage students to use it.

"We need to toughen up our position on their position of charging for parking at Burgess Field," Hill said.

And at least one resident of Fifth Street thinks Monday's action will only move the issue over to Fifth. Students are already parking there, said Dave Scatterday, blocking access for snowplowing, leaf pickup, street cleaning and garbage service.

"I think you are dealing with a symptom and not dealing with the issue," he said. "The issue is bigger than Sixth Street."