Urbana council to vote on higher campus parking fees
URBANA — Council members are scheduled to act Monday on an plan to increase parking meter rates in the University of Illinois campus area and to restrict certain liquor licenses, and to take their first look at a 48-unit planned unit development in south Urbana at the site of the old Windsor Swim Club.
The council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the Urbana City Building, 400 S. Vine St., U.
The increase in hourly parking meter rates — from 75 cents to $1 — is projected to raise about $105,000 a year that would be used to help cover the cost of two police officer positions. Those posts may have been left vacant if not for the calls of residents of southeast Urbana who say they need more police presence to combat perceived rising crime rates.
The higher meter rates will be in an area from Lincoln Avenue to the Champaign city limits and from University Avenue to Florida Avenue.
Each of the police positions is expected to cost about $78,000, including salary and benefits. A companion proposal from Mayor Laurel Prussing to cut $71,000 in tourism promotion funding to the Champaign County Convention and Visitors Bureau is not on Monday's agenda.
The council also is expected to review a plan to reduce the number of Class B, BB and BBB liquor licenses issued by the city from one license for each 1,500 residents to one for each 2,170 residents. The council already has placed a cap on Class C liquor licenses.
Class B licenses are for beer sales only; Class BB is for beer and wine only; and Class BBB is off-premise beer and wine sales.
The proposed ordinance would limit the total number of B, BB and BBB licenses to 19, which is the current number granted. Thus no new licenses could be granted unless the city council approves a written agreement with a prospective licenses.
Council members also will consider rezoning a 4-acre parcel at 704 E. Windsor Road, the site of the old Windsor Swim Club, from a conservation-education-recreation district to R-3 for single and two-family use. There also is a second application for approval of a preliminary development plan for the Verdant Prairies condominium development of Champaign architect Gary Olsen.
The swim club operated at the site until 2009. The new plan for the location calls for a single-family residence, three duplexes, four fourplexes and two 12-unit apartment buildings. It would include 136 parking spaces. The city's plan commission unanimously approved both the rezoning and the planned unit development request.
Also on the agenda is a revised redevelopment agreement with Urbana businessman Allen Strong for the old Helmick's Lumber site at 395 N. Race St. Strong had intended to build a banquet hall at the location, but the project has stalled.
In order to repay a $50,000 loan he received from the city to demolish the old lumberyard and to clear the site, Strong now promises to provide a constriction easement for a Boneyard Master Plan project and to dedicate additional right of way on Race Street, plus either undertake the original banquet center project or invest at least $250,000 over the next five years into his Silver Creek Restaurant, also on Race Street.
The raising of parking rates in the university area is a bad idea. You are biting the hand that feeds you if you do this. This community would not exist in its present form without the University of Illinois. Encouraging new business to come to Urbana and encouraging visitors and tourism to the area is a positive way of increasing fees. Those who park on the streets and use meters may very well be visitors or students. More thought needs to happen before raising meter rates takes affect.
Not sure that tourists are going to be discouraged by a small uptick in parking prices. There's plenty of empirical evidence that shows that the business in Campustown is not affected by the meter price. After all, it's been raised several times in the past, and the Campus is still flooded with customers.
Sure, we've got a long way to go before the meter price deters someone from taking the family to Coldstone for ice cream. Make no mistake, they're doing it only because there are plenty of people willing to say, "Aw, it's just a little bit, it won't hurt anything."
Please explain your statement that "more thought needs to happen before raising meter rates takes affect [sic]." What additional thought would you like to see? Do you have any evidence that the city council is raising rates arbitrarily, capriciously, or just for the heck of it? What if the council has found that meters are underpriced in certain areas, resulting in drivers' inability to find a space because all of them are full? What if the council has decided that the campus area is the most transit-rich area in the community, that it is easy to access without an automobile, and that its vibrancy is best served by an appropriate balance of pedestrian, transit, bicycle, and automobile transportation? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that not much more thought than "raising meter fees is always bad" went into your comment. Raising meter fees can be good or bad; my initial impression is that both campus and Urbana will benefit from a small increase in meter fees.
It seems to be spelled out very plainly for the need to raise parking meter rates--to hire two more police officers to help with the riff raff in southeast Urbana. And they say crime doesn't pay. However, if you are a townie and frequent Campustown businesses--and drive--may I suggest leaving the car in the garage and taking public transportation to that area of town? No parking fee needed.
Check out this story about Urbana's "art subsidy". http://www.news-gazette.com/news/politics-and-government/2010-05-09/art-...
I'll take a Caterpillar plant over art galleries anytime.
In the universe I live in what I hear is: "Lets go to Waliworld to get some stuff". Or, "give me a ride to Target to get the stuff we need".
In my circle of friends and family I have never heard: "let's go to downtown Urbana to get our stuff, they have the cool art galleries."
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