Oak Park's Overnight Parking Ban: How Has it Affected You? (COMMENTS)

Oak Park officials last week discussed the village's overnight parking ban and will look into whether it's necessary and why it's in place. 

READ: "OAK PARK LOOKING INTO OVERNIGHT PARKING BAN"

The issue has presented problems and frustration to residents, who have commented on the board's discussion and the problems they've had with parking in Oak Park.

See what people had to say below:

Cheryl said, "I like the way the village looks as I bike around in the evening. With the streets empty of cars it has a quiet charm to it. (I realize that this is a very lame comment but that's my 2 cents.)

Andy said, "I would applaud a review of this requirement! For example, I would like to see a way to get a sticker to park in front of your own house. I have to pay for parking now anyway; and, when I paid for parking on Chicago Ave, if there was a snow issue , it allowed me to park in front of my house with alternating sides of the street. So... What is the difference? Thanks for reviewing this important requirement"

Patti said, "I grew up in Oak Park and spent 20+ years of my adulthood ...they used to say parking bans made it easier for Police to patrol the neighborhoods and kept them safer. When they would see a vehicle on the street they would investigate...I don't live there anymore but when I did...I was happy having the streets patrolled to prevent crime. It also helped with street cleaning and snow plowing back then.

Liz said, "I have lived in Oak Park for 20 plus years. I think if your car has an Oak Park sticker on it, you should be able to park on the street, particularly in front of your house. The street sweeper comes during the day. The plows primarily come during the day. It is just a revenue generating tactic as far as I can see. Honestly, I pay enough in taxes, I shouldn't have to pay park a car at neighbors."

Kelly said, "The ban goes into effect at 2am so I am not sure how the empty streets in the evening are a factor.. in fact the evening is when I have the hardest time finding parking! It is frustrating for tax paying condo owners who have to purchase a vehicle sticker and are only allowed 3 call ins a year per vehicle! Parking in OP has been a hassle since I've moved here and I won't hold my breath that it will change in the near future. If it does, I am sure they will find yet another reason to increase parking rates and permits!"

Diane said, "The two parking issues I have off the top of my head (I am sure there are more) ... when having a guest visit OP for the night or weekend... having to wait until 9 p.m. to call in the license plate seems ridiculous. Many times at that hour we & our guests are out having dinner, enjoying a local event... and to step away to make a call is not practical.

Also - there have been times we called and the phone rang & rang... no one answered to give our information to. Second - we live in a zone where overnight parking begins at 9 p.m. We also live next to a middle school. The school hosts many evening events such as plays, musicals and parents attending the events park on our block, the blocks surrounding and in our overnight zone... most of the time well past 9 p.m.

Normally cars parked in a zone without a parking sticker are ticketed. This rule seems to be overlooked during school events (can you imagine hundreds of parents walking out to ticketed cars!!!) This means as a resident... I cannot park near my condo, in the zone i pay quarterly for until the school event has ended... when I need to walk several blocks down the street, pick up my car and move it into the zone I pay to park in."

Lisa said, "I recently had experience with overnight parking on OP streets and on top of that, it was visitor parking. I had surgery and my parents came to stay with me for a couple days. During that time, they received two parking tickets! The first night was Monday, Labor Day, and when I called the parking phone number, the message was that parking would be allowed Monday night. My dad parked on Home Avenue but walked out in the morning to find a ticket. When I called to inquire I was told he parked in a "permit only" zone.

Then Tuesday night he parked on a different block of Home Av. No ticket that night, but had to move the car by 8am because there was a 'no parking 8-10am' so he moved to Washington Blvd and then went out at 3 in the afternoon to find he had a ticket because there was a 'no parking 8-10am' ban there apparently.

Every street has different requirements and it's too hard to know what every street requires. Since I just had surgery, I wasn't up to walking up and down the street to look at every sign. I looked at two that didn't say anything about parking restrictions. I also agree that only being able to call after 8pm to give the license plate info is inconvenient. I like living in Oak Park a lot but the parking restrictions are ridiculous."

We also asked people for input on our Facebook page. Here's what people had to say there: 

Lily said, "PLEASE do look into it. The fact that the number of times a person can park in Oak Park overnight is only 5 per year, seems a little riddiculous. Other suburbs are a bit more lax and allow 5 times a month... which still restricts but helps."

Cher said, "Couldn't we have a text-based system? No waiting, just send in your license plate # and they send back a conf code."

Gretchen said, "I have a real problem with outdated parking limitations. We pay so much in taxes and we can't park in front of our own house overnight? We have paid hundreds to the village just from accidentally leaving our cars out because we forgot! Also, my parents.."

Marlene said, "Ditto to all said above. it's time for a change."

Jackie said, "It's the biggest pain in the you know where...truly. I grew up in Oak Park and returned here two years ago and am amazed with how pretentious it's become... MY friend can't park here more than 5 times a year? Simply amazing..."

What's your experience with the overnight parking ban in Oak Park? Tell us in the comments below.