Ventura to Update City Parking Rules Near Schools

In a move that could result in more parking restrictions near the city’s two high schools and Ventura College, the City Council agreed Monday to update a decades-old parking program for school neighborhoods.

The change must come back for a final vote next week. But if approved, residents who live within a quarter-mile of the schools will be able to request new parking restrictions for their streets for the first time.

“This is actually going to clean up an injustice,” said Nazir Lalani, the city’s transportation engineer. “We had a couple of streets that were clearly having difficulty, struggling to find parking on the streets. It has been an ongoing problem.”

Currently, only five streets--one near Ventura High School and four near Buena High School--were posted as restricted parking areas. Motorists are prohibited from parking on those streets for more than an hour between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. unless they have a designated parking permit.

The program has been successful in stopping high school students from parking on those residential streets but has done nothing to alleviate parking problems on other school-area streets.

Residents have complained about the lack of available street spaces, only to be told that their neighborhoods were ineligible for permit designation because of the way the policy was written.

“We had two choices,” traffic engineer Tom Mericle said. “We could say, ‘Sorry, it doesn’t allow it.’ Or say, ‘It doesn’t allow it and we can look at changing it.’ We are now at the point where we can get things moving.”

The policy change approved Monday will allow as many as 25 streets in school neighborhoods to be marked off-limits during school hours.

If the program is approved, starting in late May, residents will be able to request the harsher restrictions on street parking if a majority of homeowners support the idea and the street lies within a quarter-mile of one of the three schools.

“It is purely the high schools and the college because they are the only educational institutions with a significant student population that drives and parks,” Lalani explained.

Streets that have already been identified as problem areas and are likely candidates for permitted parking restrictions include:

* Poli and Catalina streets near Ventura High School.

* Eddy Court and Harte Avenue near Buena High School.

* Estates Avenue near Ventura College.