Proposed Changes to Permit Parking
Proposed changes to the 47th Ward Permit Parking Policy regarding residential restrictions were the focus of a meeting called by Alderman Pawar Monday night (Jan. 31) at the Bethany Retirement home. At this point the ASNA area doesn’t have any residential restrictions and in two years we’ll no longer be in the 47th Ward, but on the chance you were wondering, the goal of the policy changes as defined by Pawar is “permit parking that makes sense.” The revised policy was developed by a Permit Parking Taskforce of ward residents with the intent of providing clearer, more consistent procedures for establishing and enforcing permit parking. The first step would be to consolidate 13 permit parking zones in the 47th Ward into eight zones. The restricted times would remain the same—at least initially. The only immediate change is that there would be fewer, larger zones which means residents would be allowed to park anywhere in their zone, providing them with expanded access to parking spaces. The new procedure for requesting restricted parking will require a petition signed by 65 percent of residents in the affected area. These requests would then be subject to review by the Alderman’s Office and the Department of Revenue and must be approved by City Council. The proposed procedures apply only to residential parking, where 80 percent of the street frontage must be residences. If approved by Pawar after resident input, the new policy will be submitted to the City Council for approval and become effective when new city stickers are issued in July. About 40 people attended the meeting. There were some questions, but most seemed to appreciate the intent of the proposed policy. You can send comments/questions to the Alderman at info@chicago47.org