SAN DIEGO — Neighbors in the College Area say parking is a nightmare and it’s causing students to park in their yards. Homeowners are fed up with lawn parking while students say they have no other options. CBS 8 is Working for You to find out what the actual rules are.
“It’s getting more and more frustrating, it’s bringing down the neighborhood,” said Chuck Ramsey, a homeowner for 35 years on Dorothy Drive near San Diego State University. “It just looks horrible, it looks like nobody cares.”
Ramsey is tired of seeing students use the front lawns of their rentals as overflow parking areas, especially at the house across the street.
“You’ve got two cars and a boat, sometimes you’ve got three cars and a boat,” he said while pointing to several cars parked in the grass. “It’s like that up and down the street.”
According to the San Diego County Recorder’s Office, the home Ramsey has issue with is owned by an LLC. CBS 8 knocked on the door and spoke with one of the students who lives there. He didn’t want to go on camera, but said he and his roommates park that way because they have no other options.
“It’s very tough actually because there are a lot of events going on at SDSU,” said David Janelieze, an SDSU master’s student who lives nearby. “It’s always very hard to find parking.”
To park along Dorothy Drive and the surrounding neighborhood during the day from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., drivers need an Area B permit which only costs $9 a year. Only 4 permits are allowed per address, which is why some students end up parking on the lawn.
“It should be decided by whoever owns that grass, and not the people who are just dissatisfied with it,” said Janelieze. “If it is my house and I allow someone to park on the grass, it should be totally ok, in my opinion.”
So what are the rules? The City’s Development Services Department told CBS 8, “Parking regulations provides that unpermitted parking in the front yard is unlawful.” It’s enforced with what’s known as Alternative Compliance, which was put in place a few years ago for response to lower priority violations. Basically, they’ll send a letter to the homeowner outlining the complaint received, but there are no fines.
Meanwhile, Ramsey has complained a couple times to Code Compliance, but so far, nothing has changed.
“It shows so much disrespect for the neighborhood,” said Ramsey. “A lot of families have raised their kids here, a lot of students now live here, which I have no problem with, but when you treat properties like this with disrespect, it’s just not right.”
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