Trustees move to add 'customer parking only' to downtown signs

by Bonnie MacKay

In an attempt to further improve the downtown area, a Lombard business owner has asked the village to address the parking issue in downtown Lombard.

The request was made by Tom Masterson, a downtown business owner, who asked that the 2-Hour Time Limit Zone in the downtown area be changed to a "Customer Parking Only" designation.

The matter was originally brought to the village's Transportation and Safety Committee last year, according to a village memo. A study was done highlighting the state of daytime parking in the downtown area.

The memo states that although there were "no serious parking issues found and abundant open parking spaces were photographically documented on numerous occasions, a lack of regular enforcement was acknowledged."

The committee's recommendation was not to change the parking restrictions in the downtown, but "to begin parking enforcement that would be specifically assigned to ensure compliance."

Since that time, Lombard police Community Service Officers (CSOs) have been assigned to parking enforcement in the downtown, the memo states.

Many of these assignments were done on an overtime basis, which were necessary due to the high volume of calls handled by the village's six CSOs. The village does not have personnel specifically assigned to downtown parking enforcement like the towns of Glen Ellyn and Wheaton do.

"Glen Ellyn and Wheaton did not always have customer parking only," Masterson told the board. "They went to it because it made sense."

"Parking enforcement in the downtown has been and continues on a regular and consistent basis, and no parking problems have been encountered," the memo relates.

Masterson, who grew up in Lombard, has had his office in downtown Lombard 18 of the last 24 years.

"Lombard has done an excellent job on improving the downtown area," Masterson said, adding that Lombard has more grants than any other town to encourage and attract other retail businesses and restaurants to move to the downtown area.

"Once these retail businesses and restaurants open in Lombard, they need customers," Masterson said, adding that customers need parking spaces.

"Doesn't it make sense to do what we can so that customers can use the parking space intended for them for the benefit of the businesses we are encouraging in our downtown?" Masterson added.

It is Masterson's and other business owners' view that there is lack of parking in downtown Lombard because businesses owners and their employees oftentimes park in front of the businesses.

Masterson said that Lombard Town Centre and 41 downtown business support customer parking only, adding that there were only a handful of businesses that did not support it and that was because they "wanted to park on the street."

Since the issue of customer parking only was continued to be raised, Lombard police lieutenants Dan Neustadt and Jim Glennon were assigned to further examine its feasibility.

"The report highlighted the differences in parking and traffic volumes in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn form Lombard's and their use of a full-time parking enforcement officer to oversee their downtown parking," the memo said.

It further states, "no parking problems have been observed and parking for business customers is always available. Regular visits to the downtown area and observations by police representatives have been consistent with the findings of the report."

According to Masterson, he has heard people say, "When I drive through, everything seems fine."

He related that it takes about 20 seconds to drive through and 20 seconds out of an entire day does not tell the story.

Masterson read letters from the owners of Southern Exposure, Brix Pizza and MorningStar Books and Gifts who supported the idea of customer parking only.

"When you have business owners and employees parking on the street, it just really doesn't work well," Masterson said.

District 1 Trustee Greg Gron, said he has been in the downtown at all times of the day and has not found any parking problems. He also does not think it would be fiscally responsible to add a full-time enforcement officer.

"I dream, as well as my wife, we dream of the downtown area of being a bustling community of residents and businesses," Gron said. "Right now, I don't see that happening."

"Changing the signage to customer parking only isn't going to change the amount of enforcement we do or the satisfaction level," said Lombard police Chief Ray Byrne, adding that the department will enforce any complaint it receives.

"Mark my word, they are going to expect enforcement down there," said Lombard Village President Bill Mueller. "And as Chief Byrne said, 'we only can do, what we can do,' but they're going to expect different than what we've got down there."

Trustees voted 6-0 to add "Customer Parking Only" to the downtown signage.