Employees 'Robbing' Themselves by Parking Where Customers Could

If there's a parking problem in La Grange, the first step toward solving it is getting employees to park outside of the main downtown area, business owners and village officials said Wednesday.

"If you're an employee parked in those spots, you're robbing yourself and your neighbors," community development director Pat Benjamin said.

About 20 people gathered at Q BBQ on La Grange Road to talk about short- and long-term solutions to make parking more accessible for patrons. Ideas included free valet parking, free employee parking passes, using the Cossitt School lot and even building another parking structure. 

Q BBQ owner Michael LaPidus proposed one immediate incentive to get employees to park in the outer rim of downtown: make their parking stickers free. 

The village gets $75,000 in revenue annually from the parking stickers, which employers and employees pay for. LaPidus suggested ditching the fee and instead setting aside assigned parking for employees, such as the top two levels of the parking garage. 

READ MORE: Parking in Downtown La Grange: Your Take

One aspect of the plans includes parking enforcement focused later, such as 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. Valet parking was a major talking point. 

Zach Cooke, of First Rate Valet, worked on a village pilot program for free valet parking and also runs a hub on the east side of La Grange Road. He said more businesses in other towns are paying to offer free valet parking for their customers. In towns like Countryside and Hinsdale, he sees some regulars he used to see at Prasino or Francesca's. 

"It's definitely going to take away from the business down here," he said. "We want to offer it for free to customers, but that means the businesses have to pay."

With a free valet service, more customers' cars would be parked outside of the core downtown area. If about 20 businesses pooled money to pay for valet pods that would serve multiple areas, each business would pay about $37.50 a week, Cooke said. There are 900 free village parking spaces south of Burlington, and another 900 just north, off of Ogden Avenue.

But if all employees of the businesses moved outward, would that create enough spaces for customers? That's a whole different debate.

LaPidus said the La Grange Business Association and the village should work with Cossitt School to open up parking opportunities on weekends there, ideally by using it exclusively for valet parking.

This issue was raised a while back, around the time La Grange was planning the parking garage, but some parents were concerned about the maintenance of the parking lot where their children would play. 

"The conversation has to be had again, but it certainly makes sense," Benjamin said. 

Another issue: if employees were incentivized to park farther away with free passes, how would the village account for the $75,000 in lost revenue?

LaPidus proposed a possible .25 percent sales tax increase, making it 8.5 percent in La Grange. He said other towns, such as Downers Grove and Elmhurst, have higher rates specifically to help address parking. His idea would include earmarking this increase exlusively for parking expenses.

"If it's logical, and it's only for one thing, then I think that's the fight to fight," LaPidus said. 

There was a call for a unified approach from businesses to form plans and get employees to park farther away, and the LGBA and village officials to work on their behalf. 

Others said bigger problems should be addressed, such as changing the traffic flow on Calendar Court or building another parking structure. But Benjamin said "until you can show you're maximizing the parking you do have, I don't think a case can be made for something new to be built."

And that means employees moving outward first to see if that solves the problem. 

View a map of public parking lots in La Grange.