A recently passed city ordinance could mean residents in a neighborhood near Southwestern College won’t have to fight for parking with college students.
After a decades-long battle with SWC students inundating the College Estates neighborhood with their parked cars during schools hours, the Chula Vista City Council will vote on a proposal in January to make College Estates a preferred parking district.
The district is said to give College Estates residents, a small community east of Otay Lakes Road across the street from SWC that consists of more than 250 residents, parking relief.
Bob Muff has lived at his home on Xavier Avenue for about 30 years.
During that time, he said, students who don’t want to pay for a SWC parking permit overwhelm his neighborhood by parking near his home. He adds that loud noise from blaring car radios and car alarms going off all hours of the day is a nuisance. He previously said students litter the area with their trash.
Muff said he is happy to know that a preferred parking district could alleviate the problems.
“Without the approval of this new ordinance, we would’ve been dead in the water,” he said.
If the council approves the parking district in College Estates, it would require residents to purchase up to four annual parking permits for about $20 each, allowing residents and their guests exclusive street parking in the district.
Cars parked in driveways or garages are not required to have a permit.
Bill Valle, city engineer for the city of Chula Vista, said a car parked in the district during the district’s hours could be cited.
“This ordinance really lets you say ‘We’re going to give preference to the residents in these areas because they are truly being impacted by commuters, people coming in who are non-residents and take up all the parking,” Valle said.
“At some point, it tips the balance where you look at it and say ‘geez the residents don’t really have the opportunity to park on their own street during certain times of the day.’”
The preferred parking district at College Estates would not be a 24 hours a day, seven days a week restriction.
If council approves College Estates as a preferred parking district, it could take up to 90 days for it to be established.
The cost of the city to administer the program would be about $15,000, Valle said.
Valle said preferred parking districts could be good for the city and its residents.
The city has laid out a process that will help communities establish parking districts.
Residents of a community would have to sign a petition saying their neighbors are interested in adopting a preferred parking district and present that petition to the city’s engineering department.
As long as there is 50 percent or more of the community signing a petition that’s within a proposed boundary area, the city will then research it to see if a parking district would be effective in that area.
The city will then bring the proposal to the safety commission. That proposal would go to the council for approval on the district’s boundaries, hours of enforcement and costs.
With the establishment of preferred parking districts Chula Vista is following the city of San Diego’s lead, which also has districts in residential neighborhoods near SDSU and UCSD.
