The Palos Park Plan Commission discussed changes to the draft zoning code Wednesday that would raise the parking standard for places of worship and require a parking study when an assembly use seeks a special-use permit.

Staff told the commission the draft now recommends 1 parking space per 35 square feet of public assembly area and an additional 1 space per 300 square feet for other interior areas such as offices. The recommendation mirrors common suburban standards that account for shared rides and off-site parking patterns.

Commissioners and staff framed the change as a calibration exercise: a lower per‑person square-footage standard (for example, 20–30 sq. ft.) risks encouraging excessive pavement, while a larger standard (50 sq. ft.) could create nonconforming situations for smaller, longstanding institutions.

The commission also agreed that any assembly standard adopted for places of worship should be mirrored for live performance venues to avoid internal conflicts in the code. Because assembly uses are typically subject to a special-use review in the district at issue, the commission asked that the code require a professional parking study and allow the Plan Commission to waive that study for small, low-impact proposals.

Members noted the difference between technical code requirements and on-the-ground enforcement: changing the zoning standard will not immediately add spaces at existing sites where parking is already constrained. Commissioners said a parking study at the special-use stage could identify when a proposed enlargement or new use would require additional on-site spaces, or whether mitigation measures — for example, shuttle plans, off-site parking agreements or staged arrival plans — would be appropriate conditions of approval.

The commission signaled informal agreement on the 35-sq.-ft. metric together with the parking-study requirement as the next draft is prepared. Staff will produce a redline version of the zoning chapter incorporating the direction for the commission to review before the public hearing draft.

Less urgent items discussed during the session included a suggestion to compare parking and occupancy at the local churches to better understand how requirements would affect specific sites and repeated reminders that fire-code occupancy and enforcement remain separate tools from zoning.