The City, particularly Tom Champion, the City Spokesperson, has spent many hours with me and Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz to create a list of modifications for the Mayor’s Parking Solutions Task Force to vote on. I cannot thank him enough for all of the time he’s put into getting our concerns heard. I've attached the list of those items here. Unfortunately, the Task Force was only amendable to a few of these modifications. However, there are some likely wins to celebrate and some more discussion to come on a few points.
Some of the things that we are proud to say will likely be put into place, with the Mayor’s approval are:
- Creation of small gathering visitors passes (likely for up to 4 people) for $1 that can be downloaded online- it may take some time to upgrade the website to allow this, but the City is open to the idea
- Creation of artist parking permits- the specifics are still being worked out, but the City is committed to ensuring artists renting studio space will be able to park near their space.
- Flexibility of the hours of Business Permits- The permits are generally available from 8:30am-6:30pm or 6:30pm-3:30am. The application now says that the hours can be flexible. Talk to Traffic and Parking Director Jim Kotzuba if your business requires more than a 10 hour window for a Business Permit.
- Additional Landlord Pass Available to Absentee Landlords- this would allow a landlord to have a pass to provide to prospective renters, or to a contractor working on their property.
- Centralized Correspondence to Traffic and Parking issues and Improved procedures and staffing for Business Permit Program
- Process for Adding Streets as a Main Thoroughfare- Traffic and Parking will devise a protocol for how people can petition to get a street, or portion of a street, added as a main thoroughfare.
Please continue to let SPARC know if there are concerns you have that we have not yet tried to have addressed, or that you are not getting successfully resolved by the City. Also, if you’re still unhappy about these changes, let it be known! Call the Mayor’s office, contact your Alderman and the Alderman-at-Large. Tell your friends! Contact information can be find here: http://sparcfaqs.blogspot.com/
