Elmwood Park officials are in the process of adding public parking along 75th Avenue. Expanding public parking in that area has been an ongoing project for the village, said Village Manager Paul Volpe, because of the village’s burgeoning “Restaurant Row” in that area.
“That success brings with it parking issues,” Volpe said. “So we’ve been taking a number of different steps to alleviate the parking for our residents and business.
Elmwood Park trustees approved the purchase of residential property at 1615 N. 75th Ave. on April 4 in order to demolish it and then turn it into another new public parking lot.
“About a year and a half ago, we bought a house [on 74th North Court] to the east of the house we’re discussing now and we demolished it and turned it into a surface parking lot, creating 11 or 12 parking spaces,” Volpe said. “Once that was complete last year, we began discussions with the owner of this particular property.”
The entire board voted in favor of purchasing the new lot, with the exception of Trustee Angelo J. Lollino. When the previous property was purchased and converted to a parking lot, residents were concerned that Lollino would be benefiting from the additional parking spaces because he owns a business in the area, said Village President Angelo “Skip” Saviano.
Lollino is the president and CEO of Alamode Foods, Inc., which owns and operates Massa Italian Cafe & Gelateria at 7434 W. North Ave. in Elmwood Park. And when the property at 74th North Court was rezoned to create a parking lot, Lollino recused himself from voting, Saviano said.
The village has negotiated the purchase of the 5,000-square-foot residential lot at 1615 N. 75th Ave. for $265,000, Volpe said. Once the village closes with the homeowner, the newly acquired property will have to be rezoned so it can be converted into a parking lot and continue the expansion of the public parking available just north of Elmwood Park’s “Restaurant Row,” which includes Johnnie’s Beef, Spizzico Pizza, New Star and Cafe Cubano. The goal is to provide convenient parking for people going to those restaurants in the area and alleviate some of the residential parking issues in the 1600 block of 75th avenue, Volpe said.
“I don’t have this one designed, but it will be another surface lot, and will have somewhere between 22 and 25 parking spots between the two parking lots,” he said. “We’re excited about it.”
He said the goal is to have the new parking lot finished and open to the public before winter.
“We really believe this is a win-win for everyone,” said Village Trustee Alan Kaminski. “We know that parking is at a premium in many parts of the village, and this is another important step in helping to meet that need.”
Alex V. Hernandez is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.