Unicorn Cafe Manager Danah Albaum already spends more than $150 a month in parking meter rates just to come to work.
And if the city approves a proposal to increase the downtown meter rates to $0.75 an hour, Albaum said it will cost too much.
“I definitely would not appreciate it,” said Albaum, who spends nearly $40 on parking each week to park outside Unicorn Cafe, 1723 Sherman Ave. “It’s a pretty big expense.”
The city’s Parking Committee discussed a proposal Feb. 23 to increase parking meter rates and implement a 20 percent increase in garage and parking lot taxes in an effort to compensate for the $1.5 million projected debt for next year.
Although no decision has passed, the board agrees on some parts of the proposals. The committee liked the idea of increasing monthly garage permits by $5 every two years.
The plan also would increase downtown meter rates from $0.50 an hour to $0.75. In areas surrounding downtown, the parking meters would double to $0.50 per hour.
Possible proposals could save anywhere from $700,000 to more than $1 million.
But new parking committee member Paul White said at the meeting that he disagreed with an idea to increase parking tickets.
“Evanston is already tagged as greedy,” White said.
Mark Raymo, manager and server at Wolfgang Puck Cafe, 1701 Maple Ave., said he is afraid any increases in garage or meter fees will prevent customers from coming to his restaurant because they won’t want to spend the extra money on parking.
Employees who drive to work usually park their cars in the Church Street Garage in downtown Evanston and already are having trouble affording the parking fees, Raymo said.
But Albaum said she does not think the meter increase will divert customers from coming to Unicorn Cafe.
“If you’re going to park, you’ll park any where,” she said. “It’s just like taking the train … Anyone who drives to work knows parking meters are an expense.”
Assistant Director of Planning Dennis Marino said the increased costs are comparable to Chicago’s rates. The prices are reasonable because Evanston is the gateway to Chicago, Marino said at the meeting.
“We are in an urban area and it’s high cost,” Evanston Finance Director Bill Stafford said at the meeting.
Jean Baucom, Evanston parking system manager, said the possible increase in parking and meter prices would not affect the affordability of parking for Evanston residents, visitors and employees.
“We afford what we want to,” she said. “We just don’t like to spend it on parking because we don’t like not being able to take home something that’s not tangible.”
Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) said at the meeting the proposal could help raise more money because the city could end up writing more tickets. He also said he felt the $5 increase in monthly garage fees is not enough to cause any financial strains.
The city still has several months before it needs to come to a decision.
The proposal about the meters is still being discussed by committee members at March 23 Parking Committee meeting at 2100 Ridge Ave. The proposal still needs to be introduced to the Evanston City Council.
Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) said the parking meter rate increase could be too much for the city’s surrounding neighborhoods.
“Neighborhood businesses are not the same as downtown Chicago,” Wynne said. “People will balk at having to pay $0.50 per hour.”
Reach Stephanie Chen at [email protected].
