A recent change in parking regulations on a short commercial stretch of Irving Park Road in Norridge is intended to provide a break to employees who work the late shift at a popular neighborhood pub.
The Norridge Village Board was receptive to a request from the management team at City Tap and Grill to ease overnight parking restrictions in front of the bar at 7320 W. Irving Park Road.
Prior to the village’s Sept. 14 approval of a new parking ordinance, which will apply to the area in front of the bar and the only other two other businesses between North Odell and North Oketo avenues, police would issue tickets to vehicles parked on the north side of the street after midnight. Instead, parking restrictions now will be in place from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m.
The salon and gift shop next door close hours before midnight, but the restrictions caused a problem for City Tap manager Dan Jaynor, who said his servers and bartenders who work the weekend closing shifts have been finding parking tickets on their windshields after getting off of work.
“I haven’t had a ticket, but I’m one of the lucky ones,” Jaynor said. “Moving the parking hours to 3 a.m. is going to be perfect for us because we won’t have to worry about moving our cars at midnight anymore.”
Aside from street parking, a municipal-owned lot near the bar is often used for employee parking, he said, but the lot is for sale and may not be available for long.
“Most of the police know us, and they understand we work late, so tickets haven’t been a huge problem,” he said, adding that the situation could change if the village sells the land.
A request for the number of tickets that have been issued in front of the bar so far this year was still pending with the Norridge Police Department.
The ordinance was originally put into place to assure snow plows working overnight had enough space to clear the parking areas along Irving Park Road before morning, according to Norridge’s building commissioner, Brian Gaseor.
Other parking regulations along the street will remain the same.
Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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