On Wednesday, August 20th, Jim O’Hara, the city council member representing District 2, brought forward a council initiated item to establish a time limit parking program for Paseo de las Verdes which is the southern most entry point into the south mesa.

There are plans for three large apartment developments near to the intersection of Quail Gardens Drive and Encinitas Blvd.

At the current time these plans include 790 housing units, 1317 parking spots. Using an assumption of two vehicles per unit, this will leave a deficit of at least 263 parking spots.

Occupants may need to seek parking on neighboring streets such as Paseo de las Verdes because it is currently a public street. One only needs to look at what has happened to Paseo de las Flores because of overflow parking for Fox Point Farms to understand what might happen on Paseo de las Verdes unless some action is taken to limit parking.

Furthermore, earlier this year the state passed AB 1317, a bill that unbundles parking from an apartment rental. If developments take this approach, renters unwilling to pay for parking may have to park elsewhere.  It could further exacerbate the potential for more vehicles to park on Paseo de las Verdes.

Allowing construction vehicles and/or residents from those developments to park on Paseo de las Verdes will create parking problems for visitors using the trail system and Las Verdes Park along with safety and quality of life issues for homeowners in Encinitas Ranch.

After a short debate the council voted to unanimously approve this agenda item with a three hour time limit. We expect that the city should be able to implement this program in the next several months. Signs will be posted including the three hour time limit and this will mean no overnight parking. Enforcement will most likely be conducted by Ace Parking who is already contracted with the city to enforce time limit parking on other streets in the city.