Parking injustice ignored by officials

I live in the Winchester Circle Community in Warrenville. I am writing to highlight an ongoing parking issue that remains unsolved by the city and our homeowners association.

Most people in this neighborhood are renters, and therefore have little say in how this community is managed. The garages in this community do not allow for a sedan to park and open the doors inside and most cars on the market today do not even fit in these garages, forcing many residents to park on the street. Those that park on the street or in guest parking risk tickets and towing every night, even though there is no alternative for parking.

The City of Warrenville removed parking permit requirements Dec. 31, but this does little to solve problems, especially when winter street cleaning has just led to more ticketing in January. My partner accrued $700 in towing expenses in the past two months due to this ongoing issue and was offered no viable solutions by the city or HOA. We are choosing to move; however, many residents cannot afford that option.

Practices in continually targeting our community with parking violations and offering no alternatives further disproportionately affects lower-income residents in our neighborhood. This is a predatory action, ticketing residents in a lower-income neighborhood for using the only viable parking available to them.

This is a social justice issue that affects the ability for low-income people to rise out of poverty. This issue needs to be solved through partnership between the City of Warrenville and the HOA. Putting people into perpetual debt takes away chances at social mobility and affects people's ability to live with dignity and security. This is a problem that continues to be ignored by the HOA and the city of Warrenville at the expense of a lower-income community.

Ashley Staat

Warrenville