Residents of College Estates have for years seen their streets clogged with the cars of Southwestern College students. Now they are pushing back.
Homeowners have asked the city of Chula Vista to create a residential parking district in their neighborhood that would ban student parking. It is currently under review by the Chula Vista Safety Commission.
College Estates residents have complained that students avoiding the college parking fee of $40 a semester are crowding their streets, leaving garbage, urinating on their laws and acting disrespectfully. More than 50 percent of residents signed a petition for a parking district and it passed through to the Chula Vista Safety Commission. Next it needs city council approval.
Bob Muff, a 31-year College Estates homeowner, said the district is necessary to control student parking.
“Neighbors cannot park in front of their own houses,” he said. “Students park in areas marked in red, move trash bins and park in our carports. They don’t respect the fact that this is a residential area.”
Residents would need to pay $20 per permit, according to the petition, with up to four permits per household. Muff said the prospect of paying for permits made many residents unhappy.
“The biggest reluctance we had here was people didn’t want to spend the money to park in front of their own house,” he said. “That is the only way this district is going to be constructed, though, by paying for it ourselves.”
SWC campus police would be in charge of enforcing the parking restrictions by handing out citations, according to SWC Police Chief Michael Cash.
Upon establishment of the parking district, SWCPD would inform students that it is illegal to park across the street and encourage them to buy parking permits.
“People need to have the knowledge and we want to be able to educate our students ahead of time and prepare them for that change,” said Cash.
Some students expressed surprise that they could receive a $40 fine in the parking district.
Soraya Faya, 22, a business major, said that she could not afford to pay for a parking pass because she was denied FAFSA.
“I am upset that because other students were parking illegally, I am now going to be forced to pay for a permit,” she said.
Yasmine Navarette, 23, a dance major, said she was also upset about the parking district.
“It is crazy what lengths people will go for comfort,” she said. “They will be paying for it, just like now I have to pay to park at school.”