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ST. CHARLES — St. Charles County police will begin ticketing and towing vehicles from a neighborhood near the St. Charles Convention Center following residents’ complaints that convention-goers are parking along their streets, blocking their driveways and partying in their yards at night.

The convention center, along Interstate 70, has attracted larger crowds in recent years with its multiple conferences and trade shows. Some, like a popular anime event, have attracted thousands of visitors, most looking for a place to park after convention center lots fill up.

Tempers have flared. Frustrated residents have asked convention-goers to not park in front of their homes. There have been shouting matches, with police called to break up scuffles. Some people have resorted to putting traffic cones or “no parking” signs out front.

Residents, like Patricia Pfister, have taken their complaints to the St. Charles County Council, telling them at a recent meeting how she recently opened her window shades and was alarmed to see a man getting ready for the anime conference.

“I have had people undressing in front of my house and putting their costumes on — I think that is disgusting,” Pfister said. “One man went down to his underwear as he put on a full fox costume. Luckily, I didn’t have my grandchildren with me because I don’t want them to see that.”

John Aliperti has lived in his home for 30 years, pre-dating the construction of the sprawling complex of meeting rooms, ballrooms, conference rooms and a 35,000-square-foot exhibit hall. The facility hosts industry conferences, boat and hot tub shows, talent shows and the Missouri Numismatic Society’s annual coin show, among other events.

“I think its great that people from all over the country want to come to St. Charles, but the convention center has outgrown our community,” Aliperti said. “I never thought it would infringe on my rights as a resident to enjoy my home.”

County officials have considered barring all on-street parking in the neighborhood or issuing permits to residents. Neighbors largely panned both ideas.

“It’s a public street. People can park wherever they want,” said Chris Hagen, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1989. “Getting in and out of here is hard some days, but it’s only a few days out of the year.”

Towing and ticketing vehicles

Now, the county is considering barring event parking in the affected neighborhood, officials said.

St. Charles County police Chief Kurt Frisz told the County Council last week that officers will increase patrols in the neighborhood when there are convention center events to better respond to complaints from residents.

“We’ve got a plan in place,” Frisz said. “Anything blocking a driveway or a mailbox is getting ticketed or towed. If it is blocking a driveway, then it is getting towed.”

He said officers would also be knocking on doors to determine whether vehicles belonged to residents, their guests or a convention attendee.

“If it is someone from the convention center, then we will ticket it,” he said.

Officials with the St. Charles Convention Center did not respond to interview requests.

St. Charles Mayor Dan Borgmeyer said the convention center is not to blame for the parking woes. He said the convention center, along with the Historic Main Street district, has helped to make tourism one of the city’s top industries.

“It is not a convention problem,” Borgmeyer said. “It is a logistics problem.”

He said the city has distributed flyers to warn convention-goers to not park in the neighborhood and to promote alternative parking sites, such as the Family Arena, that offer shuttle service for attendees. It didn’t work, he said.

“The people basically thumbed their nose at us,” Borgmeyer said.

The St. Charles Convention Center is owned by the city, while the streets filling with convention traffic are in unincorporated St. Charles County. The city can’t enforce or change parking rules on county streets, and the county has no say over the convention center.

“My jurisdiction ends as soon as you cross the street,” he said. “So until the county puts some teeth into their rules, it won’t be respected and people will continue to park there.”

Parking garage, hotels

Borgmeyer said city and county leaders are “in discussions” about building a parking garage at the convention center. He said construction on the parking garage could begin as soon as 2026.

City officials are also meeting with hotel developers who have expressed interest in adding a second hotel at the convention center property. The hotel would be required to have adequate parking for its guests, he said.

“Parking is not what is holding our convention center back,” Borgmeyer said. “What’s holding the convention center back is lack of hotel space.”

He pointed to market studies that have shown St. Charles needs around 1,000 new hotel rooms to meet demand. An announcement on hotel construction plans could come within the next six months, Borgmeyer said.

There are two potential sites for the parking garage or a second hotel near the convention center, including the former site of the Cactus Trailer Court and a former carpet store at the corner of Beverly Drive and Veterans Memorial Parkway.

In the meantime, the mayor said he and others are working to bring more conventions to St. Charles.

He said they aren’t trying to poach conventions from St. Louis, which has seen a number of high-profile conferences and trade shows leaving the city due to concerns about crime and the lack of direct flights and entertainment options.

“Some of the ones we have been recruiting have never been to the area before,” Borgmeyer said. “Bringing new conventions here is a win for us, it’s a win for the hotels, it’s a win for the region.”