City staff will ask Evanston aldermen tonight to approve changes that would double some parking meter and surface parking lot time limits from two to four hours.
In some areas the new on-street meter time limit would apply all day, in others it would only apply from 5 to 9 p.m., and in still other areas there would be no change in the current two-hour time limit.
A full list of the proposed new time limits by block is available in the City Council packet.
The four-hour limit would apply all day to parking lots:
- At 727 Main St.,
- At 1621 Oak Ave.,
- At 1234 Chicago Ave.,
- In the lower level of the Holiday Inn parking deck at 1501 Sherman Ave.,
- In the 1700 block of Chicago Avenue, and
- At 2101-2121 Central St.
At a surface parking lot behind 716 Main St. the time limit would be raised from two to 12 hours and the rate cut from $1.50 to $0.50 per hour.
In a memo to aldermen, Assistant City Manager Erika Storlie and Parking Division Manager Jill Velan say the changes are an effort to meet “the diverse parking needs of several business districts outside of downtown Evanston.”
Those districts, the memo says, “do not have access to a city parking garage, but still have a need for long-term customer and employee parking.”
At a Transportation and Parking Committee meeting last week several merchants from the Main-Dempster Mile shopping district criticized what one called “predatory enforcement” of new parking rules which, they said, make customers not want to come here anymore because of parking tickets they receive.
The City Council is also scheduled to get an update tonight on several other potential changes to parking rules that staff has been investigating.
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Merchants decry ‘predatory’ parking enforcement (4/25/19)