Frustrated by what they say is a lack attention to their parking needs, several teachers and students attended Monday’s City Council meeting during public forum to ask the city to reconsider how they allocate parking spaces in the center of town.
APT President Elise Marks said a lack of designated PUSD parking on city streets for the 150 or so school district employees – very few of whom live in town, she said — caused hardships for teachers who must transport class materials and don’t arrive early enough to nab one of the permitted spots.
“We can not afford the $100 parking tickets,” she said, recommending that some of the two-hour spots to be designated as Permit A (PUSD) during the school day and then turned to two-hour at all other times.
Art teacher Gillian Bailey said that in her 15 years in the district, every construction project has resulted in a decrease of teacher parking. “I see my colleagues and students using their lunch breaks to go move their cars,” she said, and asked the Council to reconsider the current parking plan.
The students who spoke said they are getting hit with $100 tickets for overstaying in two-hour spots and risk getting in trouble at school for leaving to move their cars.
Because the comments took place during public forum, City Council members could not respond to the complaints, but on social media where the parking discussion spilled over, Councilmember Conna McCarthy has urged PUSD employees to discuss the issue with the school district, which does have some onsite parking that it allocates to employees.
This summer the city will convert Bonita Avenue between Vista Avenue and Oakland Avenue to one-way traffic (northbound toward Oakland Avenue), eliminate the school drop-off zone on Bonita, and add additional ADA, time-limited, and employee parking spaces on Bonita.
The city said last week that converting Bonita Avenue to one way traffic and adding diagonal parking spaces will add 17 additional spaces to the area — Permit A parking will be added close to Oakland Avenue, and additional two-hour spots will be added closer to Vista. Two ADA spaces will be added.
(Red curb zones in the city center have traditionally existed for fire code reasons, but have also expanded due to AB 413, the daylighting of intersections for pedestrian safety, which have on occasion meant eliminating parking spots next to crosswalks.)
City announced parking changes in early April, including more enforcement
The city announced it was adding more time-limited parking and increasing parking enforcement in the Civic Center before the community pool opened on April 11. At that time, it said the goal was to keep short-term parking available for people visiting the pool and other Civic Center destinations, including City Hall, Veterans Hall, school sites, the Alan Harvey Theater, 801 Magnolia, and local businesses.
In an email to the Exedra last week, the city said that it “routinely monitors parking utilization around the Civic Center and has the ability to make adjustments to distribution in the future, if needed.”
The City Council approved the and parking changes for the Civic Center in May 2025 after several months of discussion. The discussion was informed by a community survey completed by over 500 residents.