The City Council adopted an ordinance at its Monday meeting that will increase residential parking in the West and South University neighborhoods. The ordinance will take effect after being reviewed by the city committee that created the ordinance.
The lack of parking in the neighborhoods surrounding campus has frustrated students and other residents there, whose concerns the ordinance aimed to allay.
Under the ordinance, the number of parking spaces for every house or apartment building built in the neighborhoods in the future will be based on the number of bedrooms in the building. Currently, the parking provided in West and South University neighborhoods is not tied to the number of bedrooms in a house.
“Both of the neighborhood associations came to us requesting for a change in the existing parking,” said principal city planner Steve Nystrom. “The lack of efficient parking was becoming an apparent dilemma.”
With this new measure in place, one parking space will be provided for a house with either one or two bedrooms, and two spaces will be provided for a house with three or four bedrooms.
Most of those living in the West and South University neighborhoods are University students.
Sophomore Kate Stover is the only person in her four-bedroom house who owns a car, and she still finds nearby parking an issue.
“The majority of parking spots around in our neighborhood are on the street and have two-hour limits,” Stover said. “I don’t see any need for that; it makes parking very unreliable and irritating.”
Joe Mihelic, another sophomore living in the West University neighborhood, disagreed with the ordinance.
“I think each household should be given two free parking permits for themselves and to give to guests,” Mihelic said. “It would be a good compromise between too few and too many parking spaces.”
The city’s Infill Compatibility Standards Committee, which created the ordinance and will review it before it takes effect, will hold a public hearing on Oct. 20 to discuss the parking changes. It will then present its final design to the City Council on Dec. 14.
“If we don’t adopt this ordinance, it will leave these neighborhoods unprotected for future building developments in the area,” Council President Alan Zelenka said at Monday’s meeting.
Potential parking changes
Proposed parking requirements for West and South University neighborhoods:
- One parking space for a one- or two-bedroom home
- Two parking spaces for a three- or four-bedroom home
- One additional space required for each additional bedroom
Get involved: Planning Commission Public Hearing
- When: Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6:00 p.m.
- Where: City Council Chamber, 777 Pearl St.
