Off-street parking rules in La Crosse repealed by city council; bid for Monitor Street firehouse is turned down

Residential areas of La Crosse will not be required to set aside a minimum number of off-street parking spaces, as a result of a city council vote on Thursday.

By a vote of 9 to 3, the council has repealed an ordinance that mandated a certain number of parking spots, to match the size of a home or apartment building. Studies suggested that the city had more off-street spaces than were actually needed, and opponents of the rules said housing would be a better use for some existing parking lots.

Council member Erin Goggin argued that the change might not be good for the whole city, and said it ought to be tried in a small area first.

“We can see how it works and see what’s great about it, see what glitches might be there, and figure it out for the rest of the community,” said Goggin.

The ordinance had required a minimum number of parking spaces at residential buildings, depending on how many bedrooms were on a certain property. Jennifer Trost of the council thinks the change could lead to more housing being developed in La Crosse.

“I believe we can make many small changes to reduce government barriers to more housing,” said Trost, “and we all know we need more housing.”

In other action, new bids may have to be taken for the old fire station on Monitor Street. The council has turned down a $325,000 offer for the building, from a company called Property Logic. Two different bidders had competed to buy the structure for business development.

The Monitor Street building became surplus city property when a new fire station opened recently on the UWL campus.