Penny parking thrives in Sycamore - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

• SYCAMORE — Mike Stolarski didn’t need but a few minutes to grab a cup of coffee. But, being in a generous mood, he fed a parking meter enough for whoever pulled into his soon-to-be-empty parking spot.

  So, instead of costing him a penny, it cost him two.

  In a time of strained city budgets, this community of 18,000 residents about 40 minutes southeast of Rockford is one of a handful still holding onto meters that accept pennies, nickels and dimes around its town square. A penny gets you 12 minutes, a nickel buys an hour and a dime is worth two hours.

  Don’t fret if bills or a credit card is all you have — sometimes people leave a few extra pennies stacked on the meters. And the guy whose job it is to write tickets when he spots expired meters? He’s been known to feed them.

  The City Council quadrupled the fine for parking tickets a few years ago. “The fines went from a quarter to a dollar,” Mayor Ken Mundy said, adding out-of-towners often ask for a copy of the ticket as a keepsake.

  While it seems like a scene straight out of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” there’s purpose in the parking strategy.

  Mundy and others are well aware that meters translate into big money — and sometimes scandal — in places like Chicago, where parking costs as much as $6.50 an hour and a ticket is $65. But unlike many other communities, where downtowns are littered with boarded-up storefronts, theirs is thriving. And they think the penny parking meters’ message — that Sycamore is welcoming but not trying to gouge visitors — is one of the reasons why.

  “The meters encourage people to come downtown,” City Manager Brian Gregory said, which to him is more valuable than the “few thousand dollars” in revenue Sycamore would realize if it raised parking rates. Right now, he said, the city basically breaks even.

  So, why charge at all? Mundy and Gregory say the meters do exactly what the city and business owners want: Encourage motorists to park and shop without lingering too long so someone else can do the same.

  “Even though it’s just a little money, it gives you a little more incentive to watch the time,” Stolarski said.

  Merchants love the meters. “We use it as a marketing tool on Facebook,” Sycamore Antiques co-owner Ann Tucker said.

  Shoppers do, too. “It keeps the quaintness of the town,” said Kathy Tornberg, who planned on using the whole two hours her dime bought recently. “Don’t tell them, but I’d be willing to pay a quarter for two hours.”

  Page 2 of 2 - People who follow parking trends are hard-pressed to find another community with anywhere near the 316 penny parking meters still operating in Sycamore.

  “There is no other one because it serves no purpose,” opined Larry Berman, a former New York City parking commissioner. “It is just amazing.”

  There are a dozen in Silverton, Oregon. Just seven remain in Somerville, New Jersey, which once had 1,100.

  “I used to have one of the first ones (on display) in my office,” Somerville’s Clerk-Administrator Kevin Sluka said. “One day they took it for the parts.”

  In Sycamore, the penny meter’s survival is also a tribute to parking enforcement officer Giovanni Serra’s ability to fix them when they break down — and hunt down parts for those he can’t. Mundy knows what that means.

  “There’s no doubt the supply is diminishing,” he said. “We will eventually be out of the penny parking business.”

Penny parking thrives in Sycamore - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Will the new St. James Church cause a parking problem in Belvidere?

This is my concern.  Take a look at the letter I submitted to Belvidere Planning and Zoning regarding the issue.  I am asking only that the Church comply with the zoning mandate and provide one on-premise parking space for each five seats.  That equates to 170 on-site parking spaces now that the church is to hold only 850.  I wish the zoning law required more because I foresee cars clogging the streets in all directions. The Church’s architectural firm wants 110 spaces.

Click on the photocopy to enlarge or read the printed letter shown below the photocopies: 

Here is the two page letter portion in an easier to read format:

June 13, 2011

Belvidere Planning and Zoning Commission

615 North Main Street

Belvidere, Illinois 61008

REFERENCE: Case Number 2011-15; St. James Catholic Church

I oppose granting the applicant any deviation from City Code Section 150.204C3b. (One parking space per 5 seats at maximum capacity [Ratio 5:1 on premise spaces to capacity])

I am a St. James parishioner who regularly attends 10 AM Sunday mass. This service most always overcrowds the 350 capacity church. All parking spaces on parish grounds are filled and on-street parking for several blocks is jammed packed. The applicant is asking for a deviation from Section 150.204C3b because of the availability of on-street parking. I question whether adequate on-street parking will be available for the new 850 capacity church.

I have counted the current number of parking spaces available on parish property and identified them on an aerial map which is attached. Currently there are 130 parking spaces on parish property. The applicant indicates that once the new church is built and the old church torn down, there would only be 115 parking spaces. Diagonal parking would be built at applicant’s expense however it is questionable if this would increase parking on Church Street because only one side of the street will be parked after this change.

Page 3 of the applicant’s Narrative states that: “Random surveys conducted during mass in early 2011 show that parishioners currently use 70-80 on-street parking spaces in the near vicinity of the church along Julien, Caswell and Church Streets” If the code deviation is granted, on-street parking would have to supply all additional needed parking. Just multiplying the current on-street parking (as supplied by the applicant) by the increase in capacity (850/350 times the 70 current on-street slots) on-street parking increases approximately 143% to 170. Using figures more nearly matching the actual cars to church capacity ratio of the current church (see chart below), on-street parking increases 430% to 371 spots. (For an analysis of needed parking for a range of such ratios see Attachment 2)

Either figure would cause massive on-street parking stress in the St. James neighborhood as well as adjacent areas. Cars from St. James could well fill all the spots throughout these neighborhoods. Moreover, all worship services will be near capacity because the chief reason for the new church is to decrease the number of scheduled masses. Such massive parking issues could never have been imagined by the neighbors of the church when they moved to the area.

Old church parking --350 Church CAPACITY	New church parking-- 850 Church CAPAPCITY at current ratio
130 spaces on parish property 70 on-street parking per applicant’s survey 200 TOTAL spaces utilized CURRENT RATIO: 200 spaces/350 capacity (1.75)	115 spaces on parish property 371 on-street parking (maintaining 1.75 ratio) 486 TOTAL spaces utilized Ratio: 486 spaces/850 capacity (1.75) Bold Items Obtained by using the current ratio from old church survey

Should the church’s neighbors be required to supply the vast majority of the church’s parking? Using the chart shown on the previous page, it appears that on-street parking currently provides 35% (70/200) of St. James parking. Will you allow on-street parking to provide 76% (371/486) of the new St. James parking at maximum capacity?

It appears that staff is recommending approval of applicant’s deviation request regarding Section 150.204C3b, subject to the applicant providing (prior to occupancy permit) proof of attempts to buy, rent or lease 55 off-street parking spaces in the area. I am opposed to such action.

St. James Church has been notified by the actual owner of the church property, the Diocese of Rockford, that no construction can occur unless the parish deposits $1,000,000 with the diocese for this project and the parishioners sign pledges for approximately half of the projected building costs. Figures are supplied weekly to parishioners. Statements from the Building Committee indicate that these financial hurdles will not be reached until early 2012. I suggest that the city postpone further action on the application until the applicant provides a workable plan of action to acquire additional off-street parking sufficient to meet the code requirements of one parking space per five seats at maximum capacity.

St. James Catholic Church should agree to such a delay because it will have no material effect on its building schedule and the postponement will afford the church an opportunity to better inform the parish and community of its plans. The applicant’s Narrative indicates that until approximately two months ago, St. James intended to build this large church outside the city. Obviously there has been little or no opportunity to acquire additional property for parking at the current parish campus. If the applicant agrees to a postponement, the full plans (including additional on-premises parking) for the proposed St. James institutional district will be available for the public’s consideration.

On a more practical level, I pose this question: “Once the church is built, would the Planning Department or the City Council really refuse an occupancy permit to a church for not reasonably pursuing additional parking for this project?”

Hopefully my analysis will help you in your decision. I trust that you will agree that St. James’ requests should not be approves until applicant can provide adequate off-street parking.

WILLIAM J. PYSSON

9592 Denver Drive

Belvidere, Il 61008

815 544 5115

bpysson@yahoo.com