Residents: Comcast Project Could Add Parking Woes

There is no issue that can exasperate residents in Oak Park quite like parking. 

Spaces are a scarce commodity; restrictions are tough. Overnight on-street parking is virtually prohibited; residents who live in condos or apartments have to buy permits for village-owned lots or rent space in private lots.  

And almost every time a developer wants to have fewer parking spaces than are required by zoning, residents flock to plan commission meetings to complain that finding parking would become impossible in their neighborhood.

The proposed for the long-vacant Comcast building was no exception — but could parking problems doom the entire project? 

In addition to wanting a slightly taller building at the site — and with more units than allowed  by code — project developers Interfaith Housing Development Corp., also asked for a variance to cut the number of tenant parking spaces to 32 from the maximum allowed 73. Tenants at the complex would park in a surface lot just west of the building, located at Madison Street and Grove Avenue. 

That request brought out South Grove Street neighbors like Joni Strand to recent meetings of the plan commission, the eight-member group that’s been holding hearings on the controversial project for the past three months.

At a recent meeting, Strand said the reduced number of spaces would make parking in their area impossible and the plans would disregard “residents who for years have scrambled for off-street parking to comply with existing regulations.”

Doug McMeyer, one of several other residents who queried Interfaith and its partners about the project earlier this year, continued to be disappointed about  parking.

“There is nowhere enough off-street parking for the commercial and residents. There are steps to deal with parking, like adding a cul-de-sac. But the village is saying there will be no more cul-de-sacs. We will have to continue to lobby the village for this (a resolution to parking). It’s untenable,” McMeyer said.

Last week, the plan passed the commission by a 6-2 vote, with Gary Belenke and Michael Benson casting “no” votes. Both specifically cited the parking issues in their opposition.

Now, the commission’s recommendation is slated to come back before the commission at its March 17 meeting. It will include a series of 19 conditions the developers, Interfaith and its partner the , must meet. They are included as a PDF accompaniment to this story. 

Three conditions are about parking. They are:

• Interfaith must conduct a parking/traffic study six months after the building is 95 percent occupied.
• The village should reconsider the current use of Lot 116 at the northeast corner of Madison and Oak Park Avenue.
• The marketing plan for the units must be clear about the availability of parking.

Even if the parking conditions were met, concerns for the project abound.

Belenke wondered aloud about the availability of parking for events at a planned community room, a benefit in the project plans which was dangled as an incentive; Benson wants a second draft that would scrap the community room, reconfigure other rooms and add more spaces. 

Are the suggestions feasible? Project architect Dennis Langley doesn’t think so.

“We’ve carved out all of the space and maxed everything out,” he said. “Not having a community room would not create more parking spaces.”

Still, the parking issue wasn’t enough to keep the commission from greenlighting the project. 

Commissioner Victor Guarino was concerned about parking, but said the project’s location — about a half-mile from two CTA El lines and right on a PACE bus route —  was selected for a reason, “because it was central to mass transit,” he said Thursday.

Commissioner Steven Rouse said every project the plan commission looks at will have parking-related issues. But this project is important especially as Oak Park becomes more and more affluent.

“We’ll have less and less ability… to build something like this,” he said. “That’s the reason why this is the time and the right project."

In addition to the 19 conditions, more provisions related to any issue at the Comcast site could be added and commissioners could change their votes before their report is finalized on March 17.

The board of trustees is expected to take up  the issue in May. If their report goes to trustees, the vote of only four board members would be needed to overturn the commission’s recommendation, village attorney Ray Heise said.