Dear SAKLC members and friends,
Over the years, SAKLC has made a great effort to make our private parking lot available to the community on a donation-only basis.
However, as the Circle has gotten busier and busier over the past few years, and the lot’s regular use by construction crews and Circle workers has increased, frustration has grown over lack of availability for church services and events for our members, visitors, and program attendees. Members arrive in the afternoon for committee meetings or music rehearsals and cannot find a spot. We hear stories about people who drive away from concerts or evening events because the lot has already been filled up for hours.
Over the years, various councils and committees have discussed options to alleviate the situation; nothing solved the problem. After about two years of talks with parking management companies, Church Council received and approved a recommendation from the Parking Task Force to pursue a parking management agreement with Easy Parking Group, LLC.
Easy Parking is a local company and our meetings with management have provided us with confidence in moving forward with a parking management contract with Easy Parking. You may have noticed that they provided us parking attendants for our Easter morning services which worked out very well.
This new parking management will begin on May 1st. There will now be a charge for public use of our church lot.
We believe the agreement will meet the following goals:
(i) assure that the lot is available for those attending worship services and other Church functions;(ii) maintain budget contribution as much as possible (we need to pay for attendants);(iii) improve parking access for those attending special events at the Church;(iv) reduce burden on Church staff as much as possible;(v) continue allowing SAKLC to be a good neighbor.
Question: How will this impact you?
It probably won’t.
On Sunday mornings, the parking lot will be closed to public parking but open to any and all worshippers. You can stay parked in the lot for as long as you would like – so feel free to go out for brunch on the Circle after church!
If you are a committee member or in one of our church’s music ensembles, just as exists now, there will be several designated “Church Parking Only” spots you may use (with your green parking sticker). These spaces should be adequate for all our needs during the week.
If you have a green Member parking permit, when the lot is open for public parking you (as a Member with a green sticker) may continue to park for free in any spot in the church parking lot at any time, subject to availability (i.e. the lot may be full when you arrive).
What happens if I get a ticket?
Don’t panic.
The parking management service will do their best to make sure they do not ticket cars with green permit stickers. That said, mistakes do happen. If you receive a citation., please contact the church office and we will fix it.
Do I still need an SAKLC parking permit?
Yes.
The enforcement vehicles will be looking out for these stickers. They need to be placed inside your vehicle, on the bottom left of your windshield. Please make sure they are easily visible from the outside.
How can I get a parking permit?
If you are a Member, its simple – contact the church office.
Reach out to Michael Bodnyk and he can get you a parking permit. Permits are only available to SAKLC members.
If you have been coming to SAKLC for a while and would like to make us your church home, please reach out to Nina Moroney, our Growth & Engagement Director, to become a member!
Will the church lose income?
Our goal was to maintain revenue as much as possible while relieving staff of the burden of monitoring the lot and making sure that we parking available for Church services.
Our agreement with the new company provides an annual income in line with our budget, but we will also be responsible for paying for parking attendants when we utilize them. Over the past few years, donations from parking have been decreasing, so this is an advantageous move for us.
Why are we doing this?
Lots of reasons.
- We need to be able to have the use of our own parking lot for the many events, programs, classes, and concerts SAKLC hosts throughout the year.
- We need to be able to have spaces available during the week for members participating in committees and programs.
- While we are fortunate to have a parking garage across the street, the walk is too strenuous for many of our members and friends.
- When we do try and control the lot with signage and barriers, some people do not respect the limitations.
- More and more construction crews and Circle workers are taking up spots (for the majority of the day) without providing a donation – resulting in decreasing annual revenue
The reality is that we are an active and growing church. If we want members and visitors to participate in our worship, ministries, and programs, we need to have places for them to park!
Thanks for your understanding and patience as we live into this new parking model. We truly feel it is a positive move for our active church.
