Neighbors say Bishop Kenny students are clogging their narrow St. Nicholas street, blocking driveways and trash pickup. They contacted Ask Anthony for help.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s a public street, but neighbors say it’s become a private school parking lot.
From blocked trash cans to traffic cones guarding driveways, the people who live along Holmesdale Road in Jacksonville’s St. Nicholas neighborhood say school-day parking is creating big problems on a small street. They’ve called the city, school, and even police about the problem.
So why is nothing changing? They called the Ask Anthony team to find answers and a solution.
“You told me you called the city this morning?” Anthony Austin asked one neighbor.
“Yes, I did,” she replied.
The people who live along Holmesdale Road say during school hours, students looking for parking spill into their neighborhood. They say the cars line both sides of the narrow street, sometimes blocking driveways, trash cans and even each other.
“This car is definitely illegally parked,” Aedan Downey said in a video he recorded.
His mother, Xenia Downey, says what started as a handful of cars has turned into dozens. Because of limited on-campus parking at Bishop Kenny High School, students are parking along the residential street and walking through a back gate to class.
When Anthony Austin visited the neighborhood, he counted about 25 vehicles parked bumper-to-bumper along the curb.
“You kind of have to worry about where you’re going just so you don’t hit anything,” Aedan Downey added.
Neighbors say they’ve placed cones by their driveways and left notes on windshields, but they say nothing has changed.
“We’re just not sure where to go from here,” Xenia Downey told Anthony Austin.
Anthony reached out to Bishop Kenny High School. Administrators told him they understand why neighbors are frustrated and say construction on campus has reduced available student parking.
School leaders say they are reminding students and parents about proper parking and driving behavior, including not blocking driveways, impeding traffic or violating any posted rules. They say those expectations are being reinforced.
But neighbors say when school starts and spots are scarce, teenagers aren’t thinking about policy… they’re thinking about parking.
“They’ll just move the cone out of the way so they’ll have somewhere to park,” Xenia explained.
The school also points out that Holmesdale Road is a public street. When cars are parked legally, administrators say they don’t have the authority to enforce anything off campus. They are encouraging neighbors to contact police if vehicles are parked illegally or blocking access.
“You would like to see no parking signs?” Anthony asked one resident.
“I hate to do it, but if that’s the only way we can get some kind of recompense… yeah,” she said.
Anthony Austin spoke with Jacksonville City Councilman Joe Carlucci. He says he has spoken with the city about the possibility of installing “No Parking” signs with restricted hours on Holmesdale Road. According to Carlucci, that can be done with 75% approval from the neighborhood.
As for long-term solutions, the school says it is working to add more parking as construction wraps up. Right now, only juniors and seniors can park on campus. School leaders say they plan to offer limited parking to sophomore students in the near future.