GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – FOX 11 reporting it appears Green Bay’s overnight parking restrictions won’t be going away anytime soon. A city committee turned down a request Wednesday night to consider new rules.
The city council will still get a say next week, but the city’s improvement and services committee believes an overnight parking ban from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m. should remain in place.
About once a year for the past 18 years, there’s been a formal effort to change Green Bay policy to allow overnight street parking.
“We got to move with the times and the times are families, everybody wants their own car, and we need to move forward,” said Leanne Cramer of Green Bay.
Right now, you’re supposed to receive a fine if you park on the street during the restricted hours. The Department of Public Works has said it is to accommodate street sweeping, plowing, and to maintain a higher quality of life.
“The problem I have is if I’m paying the taxes and I’m helping for everything else, why I can’t park on the road,” said Cramer.
City Council President Mark Steuer says residents like Cramer are why he wants an even-odd system, similar to Milwaukee, where residents buy a permit to park on the even-numbered house side of the street on even days and vice versa.
“There are other cities, other communities that have done it.”
Currently, six times a year Green Bay residences can request a two-week or one-night exemption to be able to park on the street overnight.
This year, the city is on pace for 10,284 requests, according to the Department of Public Works. That means residences are only requesting between 0.4% and 5% of the possible number of overnight exemptions.
“We’re looking at a statistically insignificant number of requests,” said Steve Grenier, the city’s public works director.
Grenier says residents are also able to request exceptions for longer periods of overnight street parking. Those requests are typically heard by a city committee.
“If something could be worked into the system where it would be allowed, so it’s not discriminatory, I’m all for it,” said Steuer.
One argument for allowing overnight street parking is older homes, near downtown, were built with smaller garages and driveways.
However, city data shows that requests for overnight parking are spread evenly throughout most of the city.
