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Ottawa repeals downtown parking permits, street parking returns to two-hour parking · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Ottawa repeals downtown parking permits, street parking returns to two hour parking.
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  Written by Michael Urbineck. This article is being read by an automated
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  voice, brought to you by Everlet. The Ottawa City Council voted to
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  amend the city's parking ordinance on Tuesday, bringing the return of the
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  two-hour parking limits to downtown Ottawa and repealing most of the parking
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  permits issued. Mayor Robert Hasty said. This is a return to the
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  system that was put in place approximately five years ago which created
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  a permitted parking system for those who lived and worked downtown. This
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  goes all the way back to Mayor Robert Eschbach, Hasty said. They
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  did all kinds of feasibility studies about their parking. At the end
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  of the day, all those studies said Ottawa did not have a
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  parking problem. He says more of them, parking lots around downtown will
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  be opened up to public parking to make room for more vehicles.
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  Hopefully what generated the problem in the first place which was business
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  owners not taking advantage of the parking where they should, and instead
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  parking where their customers should has taught a lesson to them, Hasty
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  said. Now that they complained about being on the other side of
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  that, they will be a little bit more responsible with were they
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  have them and their employees park, and we can get along nicely.
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  Customers shopping downtown who have their vehicle parked for more than two
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  hour will be able to get their parking validated, which would negate
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  a ticket. The Lincoln Place Lot, Woodward Memorial Lot, Hassel's lots ATT
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  lot, Radium Girls Lot, and City Hall lot. Are all now open
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  for public parking. These locations were previously restricted for permit use only.
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  The smaller lot at the southwest corner of Columbus Street and Main
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  Street, and the lot at Columbus and Madison are two-hour timed lots
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  that work similarly to street parking. According to a news release, the
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  employees of downtown businesses can continue to use the same lots they
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  have in the past or choose a different open lot. Downtown shoppers
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  can now use any open space in a public lot throughout the
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  day for two hour parking.