University City to run 90-day residential parking pilot on south side of Foresight

University City will begin a 90-day pilot requiring temporary residential parking permits on the south side 14100 blocks of Foresight Avenue, City staff said at a council study session Monday.

City staff described the measure as a stopgap to test whether permit restrictions ease a chronic shortage of on-street spaces in an area composed entirely of multifamily housing. "This parking residential parking permit issue goes back to at least October 2021," City Attorney John Mulligan said while outlining the petition and traffic commission history. Staff said they estimate roughly 300 resident permits would be requested but that the on-street supply is about 37 spaces.

The pilot will issue temporary resident passes and severely restrict visitor permits; council members reached consensus to enforce permits from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday during the 90-day period. Staff said parking enforcement and additional patrols will be added for the study, and the city will report findings to the council after the period ends.

Why it matters: The petition process that started in 2021 moved through the traffic commission and led to a council bill introduced May 8, 2023 (Bill No. 95-14), which remains pending. Traffic commissioners have previously expressed concerns about feasibility because the south side blocks are entirely multifamily and afford far fewer on-street spaces than the number of potential permits.

What was decided and what remains unresolved: Council agreed in the study session to run the 90-day pilot with enforcement from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday and to not issue visitor passes during the pilot; this was recorded as consensus in the study session rather than as an ordinance adoption. City staff said the petitioner, Shauna Novak of Friends of Chabad on Campus Inc., requested passes for employees in earlier hearings; the police department has interpreted the existing code as not authorizing employee permits and said employees of the Chabad House would not receive employee permits during the pilot unless the council amends the ordinance.

Council members raised several implementation questions. Council Member Brenner suggested changing ordinance language so visitor passes could be assigned to property owners in multifamily buildings and proposed anti-counterfeiting measures (for example, a hologram-style sticker) to reduce copying or resale of visitor passes. Council Member Fuller sought clarification whether the city already had separate north- and south-side permit programs on Forsyth; staff said the north side (single-family blocks in the 7000–7200 range) already has residential parking restrictions, while the south side did not until this pilot was approved.

Background timeline: City Attorney John Mulligan traced the petition history to an October 2021 request by Shauna Novak (director, Friends of Chabad on Campus Inc.) to the traffic commission to include the 14100 blocks of Foresight in the residential parking permit plan. The traffic commission approved moving forward with the petition process in April 2022; the petitioner returned with sufficient signatures and the commission recommended council adoption after a pilot in late 2024 and discussions across 2023–2024.

Next steps: The pilot will run for 90 days with the 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday restriction and no visitor passes. Staff will increase patrols, issue temporary passes to residents, and return to the council in a study session with findings. Any ordinance change to allow employee permits or to alter visitor-pass assignment would require council action.

Quotes (selected): "This parking residential parking permit issue goes back to at least October 2021," City Attorney John Mulligan said. "We believe that we have a deficit in parking currently even with the off-street parking," Mister Rose said when outlining the need for a test period. "I do think we could probably easily fix that by making sure visitor passes have a hologram sticker on them," Council Member Brenner suggested about preventing counterfeit visitor passes.

Ending: The pilot is a study action, not an ordinance adoption. Staff will return with data and recommendations after the 90-day period for possible further action, including any ordinance clarifications about employee eligibility or visitor-pass assignment.