No more free parking: O'Hare travelers who leave cars on Des Plaines streets now face fines
O'Hare International Airport travelers who leave their cars on residential streets in Des Plaines while they're out of town now will face fines of up to $250.
Several residential streets in Des Plaines that aren't far from Rosemont's Allstate Arena will be no-parking zones for anyone who doesn't live there, too.
The city council approved the parking bans Monday.
The restrictions apply to:
• Cedar Street, between Jarvis and Touhy avenues.
• Chase Avenue, between Scott Street and Des Plaines River Road.
• Jarvis Avenue, between Cedar and Magnolia street.
• Hickory Street, between Chase and Touhy avenues.
• Magnolia Street, between Jarvis and Touhy avenues.
• Scott Street, between Jarvis and Touhy avenues.
• Curtis Street, between Pratt Avenue and the south end of the street.
• Nimitz Drive, between Curtis and Scott streets.
• Sycamore Street, between Pratt and Central avenues.
All the streets are on the city's southeast side. Signs will be posted alerting people of the parking restrictions.
Several streets in Des Plaines already had such parking restrictions.
For all the targeted streets, first-time offenders will be fined $100. Subsequent tickets will lead to $250 fines.
Fines for violating resident-only parking rules had been $31, documents show.
Airport customers and Allstate Arena event attendees aren't the only people affected by the ban. It also is designed to crack down on rental car companies that park cars on residential streets instead of at the airport.
At an October city council meeting, aldermen were shown a photograph of four white Teslas with Maryland license plates parked for an extended time on a stretch of Pratt Avenue.
They also were shown photos of a person who appeared to have parked on Magnolia Street north of Touhy Avenue and then loaded luggage into an SUV from a ride-hailing service.
Residents of the particular streets are exempt from the bans.
Rather than forcing residents to acquire parking stickers, police will enforce the ban only after receiving complaints about parked cars.
To avoid having legitimate visitors' cars ticketed, residents of those blocks should call police ahead of gatherings to let them know guests may be parking on the street.