It was a 4-3 vote in late November that sparked a controversy, and now it’s 377 tickets issued in over a month’s time that has caused the Garden Road parking debate to re-emerge back into city council talks after a short hiatus.

The debate continued after DeKalb Police Chief Bill Feithen shared those startling numbers last Monday at city council. And once again, discussions swirled around the notion that Garden Road parking was either a positive after a couple months or one big mistake.

Sixth Ward Alderman David Baker said he still has a difficult time distinguishing where a real problem is presenting itself.

“I see no problem whatsoever and would like to see how [parking on Garden Road] does over the course of a semester,” Baker said.

First Ward Alderman Andy Small said his opinion on the issue remains an all or nothing debate.

The problems arising from the excessive issuing of 377 tickets that Feithen said comprised 46 percent of the city’s tickets issued over that span of a month occurred because of various factors.

The primary problem is the misconception some students have about parking on Garden Road before the permitted 9 a.m. time. Students with 8 a.m. classes will park on Garden Road, prompting police to issue tickets. Also, with Garden Road being a snow zone route, students parking during excessive snow storms also forced police to issue tickets.

Students who also park on neighborhood streets near Garden Road have seen a fair share of the tickets issued.

Second Ward Alderman Kris Povlsen said a workshop at a future date would be a good starting point at analyzing the issues.

“I hope this is a wake-up for all people that they need to be more respectful of the law,” Povlsen said. “Proponents of parking would say give it a semester [before analyzing it further].”

Seventh Ward Alderman Joseph Sosnowski said although he doesn’t see a pressing issue with the current trend on Garden Road, the city council should, however, analyze the situation and perhaps tweak a couple things, such as moving back the time to 8 a.m. for students to park.

“These are the same types of problems that have happened for the past 20 years,” Sosnowski said. “It’s demand versus potential small problems.”

Small said the problem may be somewhat alleviated if, when the weather heats up, the city stripes the street to give motorists a visual of where they should park. He also said if students cooperate by not pulling into residential driveways or making U-turns, that things would improve.

Baker also favored the idea of moving the time back to 8 a.m. because he said it’s a necessity for students to have that parking at that time, since NIU lots generally are full before 9 a.m.

Baker said students need to do their part, and that if they don’t, parking on Garden Road may again no longer be a reality.

“I need to emphasize to students that it was difficult to get the four votes in the first place,” Baker said. “If kids continue to abuse their privileges, one of those four votes may change.”