Crystal Lake bans street parking around Central High during school hours

Crystal Lake has prohibited street parking during school hours on residential streets neighboring Crystal Lake Central High School after complaints of parked cars hindering traffic.

The ordinance bans parking on Hill Drive from Walkup Avenue to Sunset Terrace, Catherine Court from Hill Drive to Sunset Terrace and Sunset Terrace from Catherine Court to Hill Drive from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on school days. The Crystal Lake City Council unanimously passed the parking restrictions as part of a consent agenda vote Tuesday.

The changes will go into effect once the signs are placed, which Public Works and Engineering Director Michael Magnuson estimated could be within one to two weeks.

The streets are in a subdivision directly east of the high school. The new rules were enacted after the city received “various complaints over the past several years” about students parking on the streets surrounding the school, according to city documents.

Magnuson estimates 10 to 14 cars would park on the narrow residential streets, which would block access and hinder services such as garbage collection and emergency vehicle access.

Currently, there is two-hour restricted parking on both sides of the streets from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days. Previously, the city would “chalk” car tires to keep track of the two-hour limit on vehicles, but the practice has since “been prohibited by court decision,” according to city documents.

The Associated Press reported that a Michigan court ruling declared that chalking cars is a violation of the U.S. Constitution Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure. But the ruling does not directly affect Illinois.

The city also recently enacted no-parking ordinance on school days on South Walkup Avenue north of West Franklin Avenue, according to city documents.

The restrictive parking may simply move the problem to other streets, a potential problem the city will continue to monitor, according to city documents.