November 12, 2024
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Joliet council will vote on Cora St. parking

City manager says alternative parking arrangement has not been found

By Bob Okon
Neighbors say the Cora Street area marked for no parking, stopping or standing near the corner of Ruby Street is regularly used by suppliers making deliveries to the Joliet grocery and carry-out business on the corner. Feb. 22, 2023.

Neighbors say the Cora Street area marked for no parking, stopping or standing near the corner of Ruby Street is regularly used by suppliers making deliveries to the Joliet grocery and carry-out business on the corner. (Bob Okon)

The Joliet City Council will vote on parking restrictions for residents on a block of Cora Street that neighbors say has become crowded with overflow business traffic.

The 800 block of Cora Street intersects with Ruby Street, a commercial corridor that has a grocery with carry-out food on the corner and a car maintenance facility nearby.

Cora Street residents say both businesses use the block for employee parking, customer parking, and even to park cars in need of repair, while illegal parking at the corner makes driving there unsafe.

The Joliet Plan Commission already has recommended approval of a residential only restriction for parking on the block.

But City Manager James Capparelli last month said he did not bring the matter to the council because the city was trying to work out a solution with the owners of Carnitas Don Jose y Supermercado to find additional parking for the store.

A delivery truck parked on Cora Street takes up a lane near the corner of Ruby Street while making deliveries to the Carnitas Don Jose y Supermercado in Joliet on Feb. 22, 2023.

A delivery truck parked on Cora Street takes up a lane near the corner of Ruby Street while making deliveries to the Carnitas Don Jose y Supermercado in Joliet on Feb. 22, 2023. (Bob Okon)

Capparelli told the council on Tuesday that the matter will come to the council at its next regular meeting because a resolution has not been found.

“We were unable to get a place unfortunately, to get a parking spot to accommodate everybody,” Capparelli said.

The next regular council meeting is March 21.

One of the store owners has said the business enjoys a good relationship with most of the neighbors.

But a petition seeking the residential parking restriction had signatures from 20 people at 13 houses in the 800 block of Cora Street.

“I’m glad to see it happen,” Cora Street resident Susan Vanlandingham said of the decision to bring the parking restriction to a vote.” “But I would like to have seen it sooner.”

Vanlandingham, who was with other two other residents at the Tuesday meeting to check on the status of the parking proposal, said she was concerned that their issue would get lost amid controversy over a new report by the city’s inspector general alleging a current council members and two former members were involved in a conspiracy to discredit the mayor.

“Hopefully, it (the parking restriction) will go somewhere, but I don’t have a lot of confidence right now,” she said.

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