Council adopts updated parking ordinance

By Dave Fidlin

Correspondent

Whitewater’s lengthy review of parking regulations has come to a close — for now, at least.

Early this summer, the city’s Plan and Architectural Review Commission began digging into an ordinance outlining a series of changes. Most of the review focused around the downtown area. The Common Council has since been combing through the document and inserted a series of changes.

The council held a first reading of a proposed list of changes in early August. A second, final reading occurred at an Aug. 16 meeting.

At its core, the changes reflect parking limitations downtown — particularly from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. During the 10-hour stretch of time, permits will be required in a number of areas. Other changes clarify when people can park in municipal lots.

The downtown-specific parking review is the second phase of a process aimed at offering greater accommodations to motorists in some of the city’s denser areas. The first phase of the review pertained to residential parking accommodations across many areas of Whitewater.

In addition to the overarching changes downtown, city officials have incorporated a number of new changes that were reviewed and formally adopted during the second reading of the ordinance.

The new revisions include:

  • 15-minute parking along the west side of Fremont Street, near West Forest Avenue; enforced from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Restricted on-street parking along Center and Summit streets in areas where bike lines are being installed in the near future
  • Restricted parking on George Street, particularly in the cul-de-sac and on the entire east side of the roadway; also on the west side of the street, south of the bridge

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