East Troy board pauses decision on Clark Street angled parking after residents raise safety and privacy concerns

Residents and business owners urged the Village Board of East Troy on Monday to reconsider proposed angled parking on Clark Street after several said the plan would reduce visibility at the Main/Clark intersection, increase late-night activity, and intrude on neighbors’ privacy.

The residents’ comments came during the citizen participation portion of the meeting, and Village staff later presented the same angled-parking exhibit the board had previously reviewed. Board members agreed not to act on the proposal that night and asked staff to return with additional analysis and layout options.

John Turner, a resident at 2930 Main Street, said his house sits at the commercial-to-residential transition and that angled parking “is gonna push traffic more towards the left hand side,” making it harder to see oncoming vehicles when turning onto Main Street. Turner told the board he had photographs showing how, with existing parking, drivers must “go almost all the way into traffic and through the crosswalk in order to see traffic coming in from the left hand side.”

Michael Wasnay, who lives at 2938 Main Street, said angled parking would bring more noise and lights closer to residential yards. “I’m really concerned about the type of noise…and the lights shining in at night,” Wasnay said. Ashley Turner, also of 2930 Main Street, added that angled parking would change her home’s “focal point” and increase exposure for an autistic child who lives there.

Jason (staff member) summarized the material in the board packet and noted that the exhibit presented was the same plan previously reviewed. He said the village’s parking rules for the square would apply, including a no-parking window from 2:30 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and no overnight permits for the new angled spaces. Jason also noted that one loading-zone ordinance would continue to allow short-term loading and unloading but not overnight parking.

Board members discussed options raised by residents and staff, including: limiting angled parking to the north (business) side of Clark Street, testing a different parking angle (60 degrees versus 45 degrees), and keeping straight parking near residences. Staff said a north-side-only conversion would likely yield few additional spaces compared with the full-length angled plan; the packet’s exhibit shows 21 angled spaces versus 14 today, and staff noted the business-focused portion alone would add about a dozen angled spaces in front of the commercial blocks.

Trustees asked staff to run additional exhibits and return with a space-count comparison for the options discussed, including: (1) no change, (2) full-length angled parking as in the current exhibit (21 spaces), (3) angled parking only on the north/commercial side (about 12 spaces), and (4) alternate-angle scenarios (e.g., 60-degree bays) to measure clearance and sight-line impacts. Several trustees also suggested evaluating a small crosswalk yield sign or other traffic-calming measure at the problematic intersection.

The board did not take a final vote on the Clark Street proposal. President Johnson closed the discussion by saying the board would “bring something back” and invited residents to follow up by email or at a future meeting.

The board’s next steps on Clark Street are to have staff prepare additional exhibits and a comparative space count, to test alternate angle geometries and the option of limiting angled bays to the commercial side of the street, and to return the item for further consideration at a future meeting.