Council approves parking measures

Deirdre Newman

The council approved several measures Monday to alleviate parking

problems in and around the College Park neighborhood.

Parking on streets such as Rutgers Drive, Columbia Drive, the east

side of Wake Forest Road and the east side of Fordham Drive can now

be used only by residents on those streets.

Council members also approved removing the bicycle lanes on Wilson

Street between Fairview Road and College Avenue, adding 50 parking

spaces. Forty-one spaces will be added on the west side of Vanguard

Way, between Clearbrook Lane and Newport Boulevard. These two

actions, which staff members recommended, will cost $9,000.

The measures are meant to solve conflicts between single-family

homeowners in the College Park neighborhood who want resident-only

parking on their streets and people in apartments and condominiums

who didn’t want parking restrictions.

The College Park neighborhood homeowners said they were thrilled

with the council’s actions. They had complained that the abundance of

parked cars on their streets was destroying their quality of life for

reasons including trash left by vehicle owners and lack of parking

for guests.

“I think it’s marvelous,” said Royellen Duffield, who lives on

Rutgers Drive. “I was looking for a solution that would help both

sides. I feel badly for the people who don’t have any parking, but

it’s been a struggle trying to keep the integrity of our

neighborhood.”

Other residents in the area were disappointed that the council

opted for resident-only parking on certain streets.

“I think they should have held off on the permits and started with

the solutions [recommended by staff],” said Hein Austin, who lives in

an apartment on West Wilson Street. “I’m not sure parking permits

will solve the problem because friends and family will be towed in

the middle of the night.”

In August, College Park house owners asked the council to keep

residents in apartments, condominiums and the Costa Mesa Mobile

Estates from parking on their streets. The council postponed any

decision and directed staff members to come up with creative

solutions to the parking problem.

A task force was created comprising Transportation Services and

Planning Division staff members and the Police Department. It

evaluated the parking conditions within the single-family home

streets north of Wilson Street and west of Fairview Road.

The task force also studied the parking situation within the

apartment and condominium complexes and the streets south of Wilson

Street and east of Fairview Road. It conducted parking surveys in

these areas and found the most dense parking in multi-family areas.

Now that measures have been approved to bring relief, staff

members will monitor the results after three months. If parking

problems endure, the council would then consider more options.

The council directed staff members to come back in six months with

an evaluation of the measures’ success.

“I believe this will solve the overflow parking problem for both

sides, and in six months, we’ll have glowing reports back and no more

complaints,” Mayor Gary Monahan said. “There’s nothing else we can

do. We did everything, and it’s not a budget killer.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers government. She may be reached at (714)

966-4623 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.