Overnight parking ban likely coming back to downtown Elgin after a decade

An overnight parking ban that was removed from downtown Elgin a decade ago is likely to return.

Citing the need to keep the streets clear for street cleaning - from snow and ice in the winter and leaves and debris throughout the year - the city council's committee of the whole unanimously supported a plan Wednesday to bring back what is effectively an overnight ban, restricting parking on downtown streets between 4 and 6 a.m.

A final vote from the council is expected in two weeks.

Addressing the council, Downtown Neighborhood Association Director Jennifer Fukala said reinstating the ban was necessary as the downtown has evolved during the past 10 years with more residential development, coupled with businesses that require street parking.

"We've frequently received feedback, especially last winter, from businesses who were finding themselves in predicaments looking for solutions," Fukala said.

Cars parked in spaces overnight were keeping plows from fully clearing spaces and then were getting plowed in, sometimes staying in place for weeks.

"Once it's frozen in place, sometimes there just isn't a good solution, so prevention seems to be an appropriate measure in this case," she said.

Fukala said residential property owners have encouraged their tenants to use the local parking lots and decks in lieu of street parking.

"Sometimes, unfortunately, there isn't a real willingness to comply," she said.

Starting the ban at 4 a.m. will allow bars and restaurants that stay open late to use the spaces for patrons until closing time.

Councilmember Rose Martinez said some parking restrictions that are already in place aren't being enforced. "We can make more signs that say 4 to 6 (a.m.)," she said. "But if it's not being enforced, it kind of defeats the purpose."

Police Chief Ana Lalley said the department recently added more parking control officers, and that the city is in negotiations with a vendor for technology that allows a parking control vehicle to read license plates as it drives by. The information would be stored long enough for the officer to drive by again after two hours to see if vehicles are in violation.

No matter how the ban is enforced, Lalley said, there would be an "educational component" for residents that will involve warnings for vehicles that don't have a long history of violations.

"There are certain levels of enforcement that we take based upon how many times we've addressed a vehicle," Lalley said.

City manager Rick Kozal said ban will allow for the resumption of the early morning street sweeping program that was halted when the ban was lifted in 2011.