SPRINGFIELD — Supporters of doubling fines for parking violations in downtown Springfield believe they can get traffic moving again.
Before the ordinance passed by an 8-2 vote at the May 19 city council meeting, the last time city leaders hiked such fines was in 2011.
Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory and Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams Jr. voted against the measure.
Ald. Lakeisha Purchase, whose Ward 5 includes a large swath of downtown, admitted that the increase should have been done over time, but “this is one of those ways we can ensure that people will actually listen and if they don’t, this will be the penalty.”
Parking has been free in downtown Springfield since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, but drivers still have to abide by parking time limits posted on city signs.
Traffic enforcement still monitors such zones.
Overstaying your welcome will now cost you $20 at city hall.
A raft of other violations under the ordinance have also doubled, including parking in a no parking zone; parking on private property; improper parking; plugging or tampering with meters; parking in a restricted area; parking in an emergency lane; improper parking over lines and repairing a vehicle on the street.
It comes after the city announced on May 8 that it would be removing downtown parking meters.
Mayor Misty Buscher, in an interview with The State Journal-Register May 18, admitted the city can’t get parts for the meters anymore.
The city could have pivoted and gone to parking kiosks or phone apps, but “we need to create momentum downtown,” Buscher said. “Coming up with another solution to ask people to pay to park in a space is not creating momentum.”
Buscher admitted that some people who work in the downtown area park on the street and don’t pay for monthly parking in a lot or a ramp. That creates difficulties for people who come downtown for business appointments or to go to lunch, she added.
The low cost of the violations may have encouraged street parking, the mayor said.
Buscher said members of the Downtown Alliance actually recommended more than doubling the fines but doubling it “seemed to me to be the best.”
Ward 9 Ald. Jim Donelan advocated for free parking but “having reasonable (time) limitations makes sense to me.”
Gregory, who works downtown, wrote a scathing social media post earlier in May after not being consulted on the matter initially. Gregory’s ward includes the Lincoln sites, the Governor’s Mansion, the Dana-Thomas House and other downtown sites.
“(It) feels like another example of being left out of decisions that directly impact the community I represent,” Gregory posted.
Explaining his vote afterwards, Gregory said he “just didn’t feel comfortable” going along with it.
“I feel like we should get everything straight downtown, with the painting and the signs and everything and reassess it before we do that,” he said.
Williams said his fear was that if the city raised it, “we may get less traffic. There’s no guarantee that by raising this we’re going to make it better.”
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Twice may not be nice: Fines for parking violations are doubling
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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