CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Waive the first reading and pass the ordinance terminating temporary 30-minute on-street parking regulations in the Central Business District (requires six positive votes)
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Jennifer Louden, Deputy Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
The majority of on-street parking within the Central Business District is limited to two-hours by the Municipal Code. The two-hour limitation is in effect between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Short-term loading zones are also present in a limited number of on-street spaces (see attached map).
Executive Order 2020-09 was issued on May 5, 2020 to temporarily change the on-street parking limitations from two-hours to 30-minutes from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days per week. This change was made to help ease hardships on downtown businesses that had to modify operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By modifying the on-street parking regulations to 30-minutes, the executive order intended to increase the ability to efficiently fulfill curbside pick-up orders. Longer-term parking within the downtown remained available within the parking lots and garages.
DISCUSSION:
On June 15, 2021, the City Council passed Ordinance 21-063 extending the 30-minute regulations until January 1, 2022. The extension was made to provide time to consider whether the 30-minute limitation improved the downtown parking experience, and should be retained, or if the two-hour parking limitation should be restored.
A Downtown Parking Survey was issued to gain insight into whether the parking needs of downtown visitors has changed and to obtain opinions on the 30-minute parking limitation. The survey was available on the City of Naperville website from July 15 through September 8, 2021 and received 2,170 responses. The full results are attached.
Highlights of the survey results include:
• Of the 2,170 respondents, 97.3% indicated that they visit downtown Naperville at least once per month, with the majority (72.7%) responding that they visit at least once a week.
• The majority of respondents (84.4%) indicated that shopping and dining/drinks were their primary purpose on a typical visit to downtown Naperville. Respondents who selected ‘Other’ were asked to specify. Common responses included the Riverwalk, Nichols Library, services (e.g. banking, doctors and salons), exercise classes and combination trips, such as shopping and dining.
• The majority of respondents (43.8%) spend from 1 to 2 hours in the downtown, with visitors spending between 2 to 3 hours comprising 36.8% of the responses. Less than 9% of respondents indicated they spend less than 1 hour on a typical trip to downtown.
• 90.1% of respondents visit 2 or more different places during a typical trip to downtown.
• The majority of respondents (45.7%) indicated that they would like to see the temporary 30-minute spaces return to 2-hour parking. This is consistent with the amount of time respondents indicated they spend on a typical trip to downtown. An additional 35.2% of respondents indicated that they would prefer that some 30-minute spaces remain and some return to 2-hour parking.
Two-hour parking remains the appropriate time limitation for the majority of on-street spaces based on the typical trip duration and number of places visited indicated in the survey results. More short-term loading zones, in addition to those in place prior to the pandemic, would be beneficial to support quick visits to the downtown.
Staff recommends restoring the two-hour parking regulations at this time. The survey results and recommendation were presented to the Downtown Naperville Alliance (DNA) on October 6, 2021. The board expressed agreement that most spaces should return to two-hours; however, there is a desire to add additional short-term loading zones as soon as possible. DNA is preparing a list of desired short-term loading zone locations. Staff will review these and present a supporting ordinance for City Council consideration at a future meeting.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The parking signs that were in place prior to the pandemic will be restored; therefore, there will be minimal costs associated with this change.