Evanston’s Transportation and Parking Committee will consider a proposal Wednesday to start charging hourly fees for handicap parking spaces in on-street metered zones and city parking lots.
The proposal follows a change in state law two years ago that eliminated automatic free parking at metered spaces for many handicap parking placard holders.
In a memo to the committee, Mike Rivera, the interim parking division manager, says the state issues four different kinds of handicap placards, and only the yellow and silver ones now carry an exemption from making parking meter payments.
He says staff checked other communities and found that ones including Oak Park, Springfield and Waukegan now charge for parking at handicapped spaces unless the car has the yellow and silver placard.
If the change is approved, Rivera says, staff will install new signs at handicap spaces to alert residents to the rule change.