THE BRIGHT SIDE
The Sunday morning parking program was on the agenda at last week’s public works meeting.
Church parking placards are being scrutinized by the parking department. Approximately a year ago the council approved parking placards for Lake Geneva churches. The churches requested the placards to help their congregations attend services and to build attendance. The houses of worship included are the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion on Broad Street, The First Church of Christ, Scientist on Broad Street, and the United Methodist Church on Geneva Street. The placards were awarded to the churches for its congregation members who do not have a Lake Geneva resident parking sticker and for the visitors to the city who would like to attend church. The council thought it was a nice perk for churchgoers and would not affect the parking revenue bottom line too much as Sunday morning parking is not a big moneymaker.
The parking manager brought the placards to the attention of city officials as she felt the nice gesture was being taken advantage of. The Holy Communion church has the most parking passes out of all the churches. Initially, the church received 25 placards and then requested 25 more, the city issued 20 of the 25 requested totaling 45. This church also has the largest congregation and is trying to build on that using free parking as a perk to get more to attend church. The First Church of Christ has the least only 10, and the Lake Geneva United Methodist Church was issued 20 and neither has requested more. The United Church of Christ did receive 15 placards temporarily for the food pantry volunteers who utilized its parking lot while its parking lot was under construction. Now that the parking lot is done and usable the church would like the food pantry volunteers, who are only there for a few hours maybe twice a week, to continue to use city parking assuming the city will change the placards from temporary to permanent.
As of right now the parking department does not track the placards and is unsure if they are being used regularly and appropriately. The council did not decide on the continuance of the passes and would like more information on their usage. Some believe that churchgoers should be encouraged to attend church and that the issue of free parking during church services is petty and greedy. The locals who drive through the city in the morning hours of Sunday are almost always one of only a handful on the roadway and do not consider that day and time as a parking money maker. The Lake Geneva Parking Manager Beth Gerhis-Padro disagrees with that opinion and believes the city could benefit if the congregations paid for its parking, stating that paying for parking is not a penalty, it’s a contribution to the community. The issue is continued for now and data will be collected for another look at a future meeting.
