No to alternate-side parking, no to apartments in La Crosse

Is it time to drop alternate side parking in La Crosse? 

The idea of ending odd-even parking during the winter was brought Monday during the city’s Neighborhood Revitalization Commission meeting.

City council member Chris Woodard said that he has talked with people who only want special parking rules in case of snow emergencies. 

“Getting rid of it and then falling back on our snow emergency plan that we have written into the ordinance” is a better approach, Woodard said during the meeting.

The city council voted last March to put odd-even rules into effect only after the first 2-inch snowfall that occurs after Nov. 15.

For years before that, tickets were issued nightly between mid-November and mid-March, whether there was new snow on the ground or not.

The parking rules were up for discussion by the commission, with no action intended at this time.

In other city business, a local developer has given up on plans to build new apartments on a historic block of King Street in La Crosse. 

Kevin Biondo told city leaders Monday that he has withdrawn his request to built multi-unit housing in the 1100 block of King Street. 

Biondo spent several months negotiating on the size of his project with neighbors who believe the block should only have single-family houses.  At one point, Biondo’s project included 16 units in multiple buildings.

In a letter to the city, Biondo also cited a reversal by the planning department of its previous support for the apartment plan.