The Municipal Services Committee met 04/08/2024. The item that took up the bulk of their time was the Resolution 11-R-23 which would allow overnight on-street parking with the purchase of a monthly parking permit.
This resolution was first introduced back in October of 2023, but was held several times to allow staff time to investigate issues related to its implementation. Staff eventually recommended against approving it, citing a number of logistical issues such as the impact on street sweeping and snow plowing operations. An item of particular concern was how allowing overnight parking would impact Appleton’s ability to qualify for a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit from the DNR.
This resolution was again held to allow staff time to investigate if it would be possible to maintain the city’s compliance with DNR stormwater regulations while also allowing overnight on-street parking. Staff eventually determined that it would be possible to do that if the city moved to an alternate street sweeping schedule that rotated through certain neighborhoods every 8 weeks instead of the current 6-week schedule. Alternatively, the Department of Public Works could maintain its current street sweeping schedule but that would require an additional full-time operator at the cost of approximately $90,000 a year as well as an additional street sweeper vehicle which would cost approximately $385,000. In either case, staff only recommended allowing on-street overnight parking from April-October, still banning it in the winter to facilitate snow removal.
Only 4 members of the committee were present for this meeting, and they were divided on whether or not to move forward with the resolution. Those in favor cited the small garages and short driveways that are prevalent in older neighborhoods and which do not accommodate households with multiple cars. Those opposed were concerned about the potential costs, costs which would be borne by all taxpayers even if those taxpayers did not need on-street overnight parking themselves.
Alderperson Vered Meltzer (District 2) ended up making a motion to amend the resolution to remove the parking permit aspect of the resolution and to simply allow overnight on-street parking on alternating sides of the street from April to November. This amendment failed by a vote of 2 – 2.
The committee then voted to approve the resolution as originally written which, again, failed by a vote of 2 – 2.
The committee then voted to hold the item for a month until the new Council was seated and a new committee was formed.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download:
The committee spent nearly an hour discussing the item. I would not, however, say that there were a lot of new arguments raised.
Alderperson William Siebers (District 1) the author of the resolution stressed that this change was necessary for older districts. Older properties do not have the pace for triple car garages or long driveways, and some bigger houses are being turned into apartment complexes that do not have enough parking. People park on the street overnight which results in dissatisfaction both from other residents who don’t want cars parking on the street overnight and who do not feel the existing parking ordinance is being adequately enforced and from the people who park their cars and end up getting ticketed.
Alderperson Siebers also thought providing an organized way for people to legally park on the street overnight would end up improving the city’s street sweeping and snow removal efforts.
Jeff Miller the Director of Campus Safety and Lawrence University also attended the meeting and told the committee that providing a legal avenue for overnight on-street parking would greatly benefit Lawrence University. He said the university continued to try to purchase new properties and rent space to provide parking to students, but it was a struggle.
Alderperson Kristin Alfheim (District 11) was concerned about a perceived unfairness and inconsistency in how the parking ordinance was enforced. She feared at some point the city would be challenged [I took that to mean legally challenged] because of the unfair way it seemed to be enforcing the parking ordinance in some areas more than others.
She also believed that if the city wanted to increase the density of its housing, as it did want to do in the downtown area, it would need to provide parking options for all of those people.
At the same time, however, she was concerned about the cost associated with making changes and didn’t feel ready to move forward with this specific proposal. She was in favor of spending time further exploring options and perhaps finding some funding to help pay for any changes.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) voiced the concern that making these changes would negatively impact the residents of her district because they themselves did not need overnight on-street parking but, as taxpayers, they would still need to pay for the equipment and staff that would be needed to facilitate on-street overnight parking in the older areas of the city. She was interested in potentially seeing more enforcement of the existing ordinance, and she thought there would need to be more input from residents before moving forward with a change.
She also pointed out that because the parking changes staff had proposed would only be in effect from April – November, they would not solve any problems with snow removal. [Nor, for that matter, do I think they would Lawrence University’s problems as much as Mr. Miller thought they might.]
Alderperson Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) also felt this issue was not one that was a priority for the residents of her district. “I just think it’s unfair to ask them to fund something or to fund a trial when they’re already paying more for their houses for larger driveways and maintenance. I had to shovel a three car drive the other day. There is a cost for that. I understand that people downtown, you know, that they need more parking than what we have at this point, but I don’t think we’re at a point where we can invest without taking away from other districts.”
She thought perhaps this was something they could look at again when the parking utility was full and bringing in more money from the housing developments that are currently under construction in downtown Appleton. She also thought better enforcement of the existing parking ordinance was something to be pursued.
Alderperson Alex Schultz (District 9) felt that this was an issue that needed to be tackled and recognized that there were a lot of vehicles being parked overnight illegally. He wondered if the city could conduct a pilot program.
Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) agreed with Alderperson Alfheim regarding the potential need for on-street overnight parking in relation to the city’s desire to increase its housing stock, particularly its desire to redevelop existing buildings into apartment complexes and do infill in dense areas. She mentioned the Wisconsin Avenue corridor as a place they hoped to see housing redevelopment projects happen and thought that there would be an increased need for parking in that area as a result.
She was worried about the cost of the proposed overnight parking changes, but at the same time did not think the conversation should be dropped.
Alderperson Van Zeeland was interested in looking at parking options that did not require money to be paid out from the general fund. She also pointed out that it was interesting that the city wanted to push public transportation and see people using vehicles less, but in this conversation, they were talking about households needing to have four cars.
Eventually, Alderperson Meltzer made a motion to amend the resolution to remove the monthly permit requirement and allow on street overnight parking on alternating streets from April – November. This amendment failed by a vote of 2 – 2 with Alderpersons Siebers and Meltzer voting for it and Alderpersons Van Zeeland and Alfheim voting against it.
The committee then went on to vote on a motion to approve the resolution which again failed by a vote of 2 – 2.
The committee then voted unanimously to hold the item for a month until the new Council was seated and new members were serving on the committee. There seemed to be an overall desire to continue working on this issue and trying to find some solution even if this particular resolution ended up getting voted down.
[As someone who lives in a neighborhood that, while older still for the most part, has parking, I appreciated the amendment that Alderperson Meltzer made to remove the monthly permit requirement. I don’t need on-street overnight parking very often, but I would find it incredibly aggravating if I lost the ability to submit a free one-off overnight parking request to the Police Department once or twice a year. Because, in that case, not only would I have to pay taxes for a benefit that I don’t need, but I would also be losing access to a benefit that I do use every once in a while.]
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1189636&GUID=09F89F08-0149-42BE-BF7B-4465544974D1
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