Student are allowed to fight over parking space on Garden Road again.

A 4-3 vote at a Dec. 9 DeKalb City Council meeting allows people to return to park on Garden Road from Lucinda Avenue to Hillcrest, from 9 a.m. to 2 a.m.

“It really does not help the students who have 8 [a.m.] classes,” junior accounting major Scott Creed said.

The decision was debated heatedly because of safety concerns associated with parking along the road, said 4th Ward Alderman Mike Knowlton.

“I changed my mind; when I drove by and saw how much space there was, that was the deciding moment,” Knowlton said.

Second Ward Alderman Kris Povlsen expressed some reservations about the results and said, “My feeling is when you’re impacting a neighborhood, we have to listen very closely to them.”

The needs of the permanent residents of the neighborhoods were met, Povlsen said.

On the other side of the fence, 6th Ward Alderman Dave Baker viewed the decision as one that fixed a mistake.

The council made a mistake in prohibiting the parking from Garden Road and was able to right a wrong in allowing it again, He said.

Fifth Ward Alderman Pat Conboy said that some parking should exist along Garden Road, but he was forced to vote against the motion when no compromise was available.

Conboy said NIU should provide adequate parking in the future for new buildings. Apartment complexes are forced to provide adequate parking for their projects, and NIU should do the same, he said.