The Village of Glencoe is set to embark on a new study of its downtown parking situation, amid the changing nature of the central business district and complaints about a lack of parking availability.
At the June 20 Committee of the Whole meeting, village trustees authorized staff to initiate a process that will lead to the retention of a parking consultant. After a review, the consultant would likely propose changes for both the parking downtown and the streetscape.
The moves comes as Village Manager Phil Kiraly noted receiving objections about a lack of parking in the downtown.
“It’s a perception issue and I do think we need to work on that perception,” Kiraly said at the meeting.
The last parking study occurred in 2015 as part of the Downtown TuneUp process, which was an examination of the entire central business district. That analysis showed there were 459 spaces downtown and another 536 in adjacent areas. Moreover, the spaces were about 80% filled at their highest usage.
Development Services Manager Taylor Baxter said the conclusion of that study was there was a perception of actual parking and an inconvenience as opposed to actual supply.
“That perception problem we knew of in 2014 exists today,” Kiraly noted.
Since 2015, the village has added wayfinding signage, crated accommodations for curbside pickup for restaurants and the public safety departments has integrated new parking enforcement technology.
Then on June 3, the village converted 32 spaces in the southwest commuter lot near the Metra station to three-hour free parking.
Kiraly said he recently saw drivers circling around looking for a space instead of using the new parking option.
“Green Bay Road acts as the Nile River in some ways,” Kiraly said. “It is seen as this chasm to get across.”
Beyond parking, Kiraly also pointed to possible changes in the streetscape that he said was designed in 2001.
“It is very different today,” he said. “There may be strategic ways to enhance the streetscape to better address the needs of the downtown.”
Kiraly noted the long term impact tied into the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There are a lot more people who are here a lot more than there used to be,” Kiraly said. “They are not going into (Chicago) five days a week, maybe they are going into the city two days a week.”
Yet he did not call for the creation of a parking deck, which he said are expensive and not well utilized in the suburbs.
“I do think you can do a bunch of small things that make a big difference as to one expensive thing that people may or may or not utilize,” he said.
Kiraly added there is also not enough bicycle parking in the downtown.
Village President Howard Roin supported a study fearing people may not want to come to Glencoe due to parking concerns.
“We clearly need to start,” Roin said. “Glencoe needs to be a place where you want to go.”
The staff is expected to bring a recommendation for a consultant to the Village Board sometime over the next few months.
In separate action at the regular Village Board meeting, trustees approved re-naming the first floor conference room in honor of Robert Morris, Glencoe’s village manager from 1951 to 1982. Morris died last November at the age of 101. The village has scheduled a dedication ceremony for the morning of July 4.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
