Field’s Parking Crunch Lands School District in Zoning Fight

Will success spoil the future of the popular Fairbanks Ranch soccer field? It has already gotten Solana Beach School District Supt. Ray Edman into hot water with county zoning enforcement officials.

“I’m expecting them to come along any moment and take me away,” Edman said with a chuckle--but he’s not totally joking. “This is a serious matter which we think we have solved.”

Edman, as chief administrator for the sprawling school district, is responsible for seeing that everything is on the up-and-up at the 10-acre field at El Apajo and San Dieguito Road in the estate community of Fairbanks Ranch.

When county code enforcement officials cited Edman and the school district for zoning code violations last summer, Edman turned the matter over to the district’s lawyer, Dwight Worden. He also notified leaders of the popular youth leagues that leased the field for soccer and baseball games that the parking crunch around the field had to be brought under control.

Even though Edman understood the problem--a mob of eager kids accompanied by an even larger number of proud parents, up to 200 people, causing a parking crunch at the hub of the quiet residential community--he couldn’t see what else the school district could do about it.

Dwight Worden, in lawyerly fashion, turned the spotlight back on the county code enforcement officials, pointing out that the cars of those attending soccer events were parked legally, both on and off the school property.

But Larry Muir, county code enforcement supervisor, said the school district was in violation of the zoning ordinance it fought for a year ago in order to allow youth league activities to continue to use the future school site.

Muir explained that the county zoning code amendment that permitted the Solana Beach district and other school districts to allow recreational uses on their unused school properties required that “adequate off-street parking” be provided. Soccer fans’ cars that are parked, even legally, on streets around the soccer field violate the ordinance, Muir said.

The school district and Edman were notified of two violations, one in June and one Sept. 4, when some people at the soccer field parked their cars on the streets.

Edman may breathe a bit easier, however, because code enforcement does not march violators off in handcuffs. It simply takes the offenders to court if the violations continue, Muir said.

But Edman might also have the solution.

With the help of County Supervisor Susan Golding and her staff, the district has gained permission from Fairbanks Plaza developer Watt Industries and major lessee Bank of America for soccer fans to use the off-street spaces in the shopping center on weekends, when the largest crowds appear. The center is across the street from the soccer field.

“That ought to solve the problem,” Edman said. “And if it does not, I will take this matter to court to make those who are trying to force us to drop youth recreational activities at our property to come forward and testify.”