Managing the Village's scarce parking
resource is among the most challenging of municipal service
delivery activities. With demand exceeding supply in many areas
of the Village, administrators must constantly work to ensure
parking supply and enforcement activities are managed to
provide the most benefits to the greatest number of citizens.
More than 1,800 parking spaces have been
added to the supply over the past eight years, but increasing
demand has continued to outpace efforts to add more parking
spaces where they are most needed. An important facet of any
parking development strategy is to balance the needs and
concerns of all parties, including residents of multifamily and
single-family homes, and tenants and customers of
commercial properties, groups that are often competing for the
same limited supply or have concerns over the impact of
initiatives to create new parking.
Beyond adding new supply, often times the
quickest and most efficient approach to addressing parking
issues is to revise parking regulations. Significant changes in
parking regulations are now being implemented Village wide in
the multifamily residential areas, which have historically been
among the most difficult areas to manage supply. A Village-wide
study of all on-street parking regulations also has been
undertaken by the citizen volunteers of the Parking and Traffic
Commission (see related story on
Page 6). Working with Village
traffic engineers, commission members will recommend strategies
for creating a system that is easier for parkers to understand
and the Village to regulate.
Over the past year, the Village also has
made significant, internal strides in improving parking
management. One of the most significant steps taken was to
bring staffing and management of the Parking Permit Office back
in house after several years of contracting with a private
company. Bringing the permitting function back to Village Hall
has produced a much higher level of management and supervisory
control and greatly improved customer service.
The introduction of parking adjudication,
which allows individuals to challenge citations at Village Hall
rather than in circuit court, also has been a tremendous step
forward both in terms of convenience for residents and
enforcement administration. (See
related story on Page 5).
Although important steps have been taken to
better meet parking demands in Oak Park, balancing supply with
demand is likely to remain a challenge for some time to come.
However, the Village is committed to improving management of
parking to better meet the needs of the community.
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District 97 has received a Bright Red Apple
Award for excellence from SchoolSearch, a national firm that
provides families with comparative school data to help them
make informed school choices. The award is based on five
important factors -- academic performance, pupil/teacher ratio,
per pupil expenditure, educational level of teachers and
average teacher salary. District 97 was one of only 95 of
Illinois' 892 school districts to receive the award. For
more information call 524.3000 or visit www.op97.org.
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The Oak Park Department of Public Health is
recruiting professionals to become members of the the local
Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), volunteers who would help in the
event of a public health emergency. Practicing, inactive or
retired nurses, physicians, dentists, emergency medical
technicians, pharmacists, veterinarians, teachers, medical
technicians or aides, psychologists, social workers, clergy,
biologists, information technology/ administrative staff,
construction and many others are encouraged to volunteer
for this important community preparedness initiative. For more information or to apply, call 358.5488 or email health@oak-park.us.
