Wheaton resident Tom Johnson points to an issue he sees with the proposed Cosley Zoo parking expansion on the east side of Gary Avenue during the Monday, July 1 meeting of the Wheaton City Council. Members of the council approved the parking expansion proposal in a 5-1 vote. (Kevin Beese/Chronicle Media)

Wheaton’s Cosley Zoo will be able to expand its parking.

In a 5-1 vote Monday, July 1, the Wheaton City Council approved amending the zoo’s special use permit to create 93 spaces on the east side of Gary Avenue.

The Wheaton Park District, owners of the zoo, has said the additional parking is necessary because the existing zoo parking on the west side of Gary winds up full on one-third of the days.

Councilman Scott Brown of the North District was the lone dissenting vote.

“There’s been bad collaboration. It’s been a mess,” Brown said of the Park District’s parking-expansion attempt. “There has been sloppy data. It’s been hard to establish trust with the issues that have been thrown around on all fronts. I’m a ‘no.’”

He felt the Park District’s application did not three of the eight criteria required for approval.

Residents near the zoo have contended that parking is not an issue at the zoo and that putting parking on the east side of Gary Avenue – even though the city is putting a traffic light and crosswalk at Gary and Prairie avenues — will create a dangerous situation for families with young children.

Even Councilman Michael Barbier of the East District, who voted in favor of the project, said he would not use the approved lot.

“Would I park there with my 2- and 3-year-old boys? There’s zero change of that, and that it with both my wife and I being there,” Barbier said.

He said that because the Park District was not taking any parking away from the west side of Gary and forcing more people to use the proposed east lot, he could not deny the proposal. Barbier said the Park District was just providing an option by offering the additional parking on the east side of Gary.

The councilman chastised Park District personnel at the meeting for not working more with area residents during the process.

“We shouldn’t be at this point,” Barbier said. “…The residents, they want what’s best for the community too. But when you feel unheard, you raise your voice, then that turns into a scream.”

If the city wasn’t going to deny the Park District’s special use amendment, neighbors of the zoo asked that the decision be delayed until an advisory referendum asking all Wheaton residents’ views of the zoo parking expansion was voted on in November.

In June, residents submitted petitions with 2,681 Wheaton residents’ signatures to get the measure on the November ballot, 40 percent more signatures than required.