While cruising downtown DeKalb, one might notice a jewelry shop, a quaint Italian restaurant and a book store that sells 25 books for $25.

Although there is no shortage of parking in the general vicinity, accessibility is a problem, City Manager Mark Biernacki said.

Finding a spot right in front of the store is difficult, and people will be forced to find a parking lot behind the buildings, said Mark Hedborn, owner of Book Muse Book Store, 132 E. Lincoln Highway.

The one-hour time limit between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m. compounds the problem because shoppers are not able to peruse the shops and eat lunch without exceeding the limit, he said.

Hedborn said there is plenty of parking behind his store, but people are inexplicably discouraged from parking there because they cannot see the store they are going to.

Economic Development Director Paul Rasmussen said he freely admits there is a parking problem.

One possible solution is to tear down the bank building on the northwest corner of Fourth Street and Lincoln Highway and create a parking lot, Rasmussen said.

A second obstacle to overcome is a state regulation that forbids diagonal parking on a state highway, allowing only parallel parking, Rasmussen said. Otherwise, traffic movement would be hindered by the constant interruption of shoppers.

Another dilemma is the train that temporarily blocks customers from getting to stores on the north side of the street.

“It almost never fails that by the time I get halfway to the tracks, there’s a train,” said Steve Johnson, part-owner of New Traditions, Inc., 143 E. Lincoln Highway.

As the city plans to extend the downtown further eastward, Rasmussen said they will look to adjust streetside lots so more parking could be created.