A Burlington Avenue resident told La Grange trustees she has paid the village $600 for parking but now faces tickets and a waitlist after stepped-up enforcement in Lot 5.
Kelly McDonald said she moved into the central business district in July 2025 and bought an overnight pass at the village hall.
She said she parked in Lot 5 for about a year without trouble. She began getting tickets in September for parking longer than three hours.
“This is like a failure on many levels,” McDonald said.
Lot 5 is the large parking lot bordered by Ashland Avenue on the west, Burlington Avenue on the north and Calendar Avenue on the south.
She said police told her she needed a day pass, but the village told her day passes were sold out and put her on a waitlist.
McDonald works from home and said she would have to move her car four times a day to comply. She praised a police officer and finance department staff but said nobody explained the daytime rules when she bought her pass.
A village staff member said Lot 5’s three-hour limit is not new. The only recent change, the staff member said, is that the limit now runs until 8 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.
The staff member said the limit may not have been enforced before the village added license plate reader technology and acknowledged that past communication was unclear.
The village has fewer 24-hour resident spaces than there are apartments in the area without on-site parking, the staff member said.
A lot the village recently acquired in the West End will be open only to West End residents and employees, with 30 resident 24-hour permits for more than 100 qualifying units, the staff member said.
One option mentioned during the village board meeting held on Sept. 28 is notifying landlords and tenants more directly and opening part of the top floor of the village parking garage to people on the waitlist.
Earlier in the meeting, Village Manager Jack Knight said the village is installing new signs in the central business district and recently launched a parking web page with interactive maps.
Lot 15 has been striped and is scheduled to open to permit holders Nov. 1, once driveway work is finished, Knight said.