River Forest officials responded to complaints from some residents living near Dominican University by approving an ordinance at the Sept. 23 Village Board meeting that adds parking restrictions on Park Avenue near the school’s River Forest campus.
Residents Gerri Humbert and Pierangela Murphy first raised concerns about parking in their neighborhood at the Sept. 9 village board meeting, then they and other residents repeated their concerns at the Sept. 18 traffic and safety commission meeting and presented a petition supporting their claims.
Humbert, who spoke in favor of the proposed change at the Sept. 23 meeting, as did fellow resident Michael Anderson, said the petition had been signed by residents of every house on their block with the exception of one neighbor who is out of the country.
In a memo to Matt Walsh, village administrator, Jack Bielak, director of public works and engineering, explained that staff members had received inquiries from residents expressing concerns about parking and safety along Park near the campus following the start of the school year, leading to discussions with residents and Dominican representatives. During those discussions, Dominican officials acknowledged their parking challenges and shared that other operational changes or solutions were being considered.
At issue is parking on the west side of Park, which currently has no parking restrictions, and parking on the east side of Park, which is prohibited. The east side is residential with several driveways accessing single family homes.
Walsh said the goal of the changes is to direct Dominican students and staff members to park on campus.
At the commission meeting, residents explained why they believed resident-only parking was the only way to relieve congestion on the street and provide residents with parking on their block, Bielak said. After discussing options to address the concerns, commissioners recommended modifying parking regulations on Park to “residential parking only on weekdays from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. on school days only from Division Street to Greenfield Street on the west side of Park.”
When it came up for a vote Sept. 9, however, officials debated the language of the recommendation with trustee Rescipio Vazquez suggesting that “school days” be expanded to “Dominican University school days” to better reflect the intent of the change and relax parking restrictions when classes are not in session, such as over winter break. However, trustees Erika Bachner and Bob O’Connell took it a step further and suggested changing “school days” to “Monday through Friday” and make the restrictions year round.
Trustee Katie Brennan questioned identifying Greenfield as the northern boundary of the parking zone. Not only is Greenfield an offset intersection at Park but the entrance to the Dominican parking lot also is there. Humbert also noted that parking restrictions are different with parking prohibited in one section and restricted in another.
Officials compromised by establishing the northern boundary of the parking zone from Greenfield to “the south end of the Dominican University driveway” and approved the revised ordinance unanimously.
Bielak explained that the village board in July 2020 had adopted an ordinance that implemented the recommendations of the commuter parking study. The study analyzed several neighborhoods in the village, including Dominican and the surrounding residential area. One of the options in the study recommended removing the two-hour parking limit on Park along the university. The stated objective was to compress parking impacts to campus objectives rather than on other residential blocks further from campus.
In response to a question from trustee Ken Johnson, Walsh said the ordinance will take effect as soon as new signs can be erected. He added that police would be issuing warning tickets for a brief period to allow drivers to adjust to the new restrictions.
Village President Cathy Adduci thanked Dominican officials for working with the village to address the issue and thanked residents for working with the university.