Faced with many soon-to-open, large apartment complexes, Encinitas is considering making it easier to establish timed parking on residential streets.
Now is the time to get in front of this problem,” Encinitas Ranch Community Association President Dick Stern told the City Council earlier this month.
Stern won the council’s approval for a three-hour parking limit along Paseo Las Verdes, east of its intersection with Quail Gardens Drive. Popular with joggers, walking groups and families with small children, this area is near a portion of Quail Gardens Drive where hundreds of new apartments are being built. People who live in nearby single-family homes say they worry that these apartment complexes won’t provide enough onsite parking, and the future apartment dwellers will take up all the street parking.
Concerns about potential street parking shortages also have been raised by people in other parts of town where massive housing projects are being built, including the area near a 250-unit complex that’s going in at the corner of Encinitas Boulevard and Rancho Santa Fe Road.
In response, city employees have begun reviewing city regulations regarding green curbs and parking time limits. They discovered that the Encinitas municipal code allows the city traffic engineer to establish green curb markings with 20-minute limits between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily, except Sundays and holidays. However, there isn’t a simple process for obtaining two-, three- or four-hour parking zones, “especially in residential areas,” a city staff report indicates.
During the council’s Nov. 19 meeting, City Traffic Engineer Abe Bandegan told council members that he would propose updating the code to allow homeowners or business people to submit individual requests for multi-hour parking limits. The city would then survey the proposed site to check how often parked vehicles come and go. If vehicles are regularly staying far longer than what’s requested, say two hours instead of the requested one hour, then the person’s request might be granted, Bandegan said.
The new limits and curb paint would only apply to the area in front of the home or business; a single homeowner couldn’t request a bigger roadway stretch. And, the proposed process would be for daytime parking issues; the city already has a process for overnight parking concerns.
During the Nov. 19 meeting, council members unanimously approved the three-hour parking limit for Paseo Las Verdes, but said they wanted additional review of the proposed citywide municipal code changes.
Councilmember Joy Lyndes said she wanted the proposed changes to include a requirement that homeowners or businesses within 300 feet of the parking limit request receive notification of what’s proposed.
Mayor Bruce Ehlers said he wanted the city’s Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission to review the proposal before the council votes on it.
“I’d like to see it reviewed by the traffic commission because that is their job,” he said.
In response to the council’s request, the proposal will now be sent to the traffic commission for review, city employees said. However, they noted, that review won’t occur until early next year; the commission’s next meeting is in February. Council members said that after the commission provides its assessment, the council will vote on the proposal.