Politics & Government
Village Board Approves Free Metered Parking After 6 p.m.
Board passes proposed bill 1111, but Oppenheimer votes against it.
The Village Board approved RVC proposed bill 1111 at Monday's Village Board meeting, thus officially making metered spots in the downtown free to park in after 6 p.m.
Trustee Ed Oppenheimer was the lone trustee to vote against it. Few residents commented on the proposed law, and Oppenheimer said he felt it was "a giant step instead of little ones."
He explained that permit parking in Parking Fields No. 3 and 5 — behind PC Richard and the RVC PD Headquarters — are under utilized after 4 p.m. "These spots are going empty," he said.
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Oppenheimer added that he thinks the village should investigate adding more signage around RVC, directing people to those open lots instead of making metered parking free after 6 p.m. He's also concerned that employees of village businesses will take up the free spots after 6 p.m., and the village would have no way to fix it.
"If we eliminate meter restrictions and find employees in these spots...we won't have the ability to move them along, if the need should arise," he said.
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Trustee Mike Sepe disagreed with Oppenheimer, saying that he never saw the reason for ticketing after 6 p.m. and that the village's downtown businesses lost a lot of money by having such a punitive law. "I can enjoy this village again," Sepe said. "It's something you can't put a price on."
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