Naperville to allow overnight parking for certain subdivisions

Relaxing regulations that had been in place for more than 60 years, a split Naperville City Council approved an ordinance allowing overnight street parking in certain subdivisions with multifamily residences.

The new rules, enacted last week with a 5-3 vote, affect several streets in the Villages of Westglen and The Enclave at Country Lakes, where six and eight years ago pilot programs were successfully tested.

The ordinance also opens the door for homeowners' associations from other multifamily subdivisions built before Nov. 17, 2015 - when the city's multifamily parking requirements were modified - to apply for overnight street parking privileges. Each applicant will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Most city streets have a parking ban from 2 to 5 a.m., a restriction that was shifted from 6 a.m. in 1989 to allow for people leaving for work earlier in the morning.

Council members Jennifer Bruzan Taylor, Paul Hinterlong and Paul Leong voted against the overnight parking allowances. Bruzan Taylor said she wasn't against the idea of overnight street parking, but she needed clearer guidelines before supporting the ordinance.

"All the places I went by, they had room to fit within the sidewalk and the garage in these neighborhoods that we're discussing," Hinterlong said. "You know what you bought. I think there's a level of responsibility there."

The approved allowances in the Villages of Westglen and The Enclave are for one side of the street only. City staff indicated that expanding the allowances to other subdivisions would not negatively affect emergency operations or snow plowing.

Future applications will be reviewed by the city's transportation, engineering and development business group, the public works department and the police and fire departments.

Free hang tags will be distributed at the equivalent of 50% of the subdivision's total number of units. Residents will be required to display them or risk police citations.