Village To Add New Downtown Parking, Crack Down On Illegal ATVs

Oswego IL

20 August, 2021

7:00 PM

Description

OSWEGO, IL — Following an increase in comments from Oswego residents and business owners, village staff said in Tuesday's board meeting they're working to solve problems surrounding illegally operated ATVs and downtown parking. Residents have voiced concerns about a lack of parking spaces downtown, so through a study, village staff found 28 possible new spots near the intersection of Main and Van Buren Streets. Some of those spots can be added as early as this fall. The goal of the study was to maximize how many spots could fit in that area, but how many spots will turn out depends on whether they're perpendicular or diagonal, according to staff. The village will continue to work with downtown businesses and study traffic congestion throughout the fall to find more parking options, village staff said at the meeting. Some trustees on the board also said they want to know how many open spots downtown are public and how many are private. A discussion surrounding illegally driven ATVs and non-highway motorbikes — which aren't allowed to be driven on public roads — following the parking conversation at the meeting. Earlier this summer, Kendall County Sheriff's Office increased enforcement for off-highway vehicles that were being used on public roads, following an increase in complaints from residents. Oswego Police Chief Jeff Burgner said at Tuesday's meeting that so far in 2021, the department has gotten 158 complaints about these vehicles versus the 127 complaints in 2020 and 33 in 2019 — it's a county-wide problem though, not exclusive to Oswego. RELATED: Off-Road Vehicle Complaints: Kendall Sheriff Beefs Up Enforcement Just earlier this month, a 15-year-old dirt bike rider was badly injured after crashing with a small SUV on Route 34. Burgner said this is "exactly what we don't want to have happen." "These vehicles are just not safe to be on the roadway," Burgner said Tuesday. "At the end of the day, that's the bottom line. These are not intended to be operated on roads. If they were, they wouldn't be prohibited." To work toward eliminating the problem, the board approved an ordinance change to allow the police to impound non-highway vehicles and ATVs that are illegally driven, subjecting them to a $500 towing fee. Kendall County Deputy Dan Briars told Patch in June that previously, officers worked to get voluntary compliance from drivers rather than impose legal ramifications. But that wasn't enough, he said. "We would rather take these steps now than have to respond to a serious injury crash involving an off-road vehicle later," an earlier news release said. (For more news and information like this, subscribe to the Oswego Patch for free. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. Don't forget to like us on Facebook!)