Dave Alley
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – Permits will soon be required for drivers who park their vehicles on a number of residential streets located near Pioneer Valley High School (PVHS).
On Tuesday night, Santa Maria City Council approved a resolution that will establish preferential parkingprivileges for residents in the neighborhood north of school.
According to the city, the new parking district is intended to address ongoing parking issues caused by high school students parking along residential streets.
“This all started because a resident contacted me and we took this item to our Traffic Committee, which is held here at Public Works (Department) every single month,” said Zoe Glick, Santa Maria Senior Civil Engineer. “The concern was that there’s a lot of student parking, uninsured drivers parking in this neighborhood, so they are not necessarily following roadway laws. They’re not parking appropriately and they’re getting heavily impacted now that school is back in session, so several residents have brought up concerns, about having available parking in their neighborhood and safe parking.”
George Clark, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1999, five years before Pioneer Valley High School opened, spoke with News Channel 3-12 on Wednesday, and said it was his wife Gaylen who spearheaded the drive to develop a parking permit district around the neighborhood.
“My wife went to the city and got the forms to fill out,” said Clark. “We had to get 85% of the people in our neighborhood sign a petition saying we’d like to have we got exactly 85%, and we had to submit it to the commission that takes care of the roads and stuff. Then they gave it to the city and the city okayed it last night.”
Clark added he has long been frustrated by the students who have parked around his home inside of at the school’s on-campus parking lot.
“There’s a lot of chaos with the kids walking back and forth,” said Clark. “They throw their trash and there’s cars all the time. There’s a lot of traffic. I don’t think some of the kids have driver’s license yet. One of the kids, I asked last year why he’s parking here and he said he didn’t have a driver’s license, so he shouldn’t even be driving. It’s disruptive. Usually, there’s two big trucks parked in front of my house and it’s frustrating.”
The permits will cost $7 and will allow residents to park without restriction during school hours while limiting non-resident parking.
Each resident will be allowed to purchase up to five permits, which will be good for five years.
“It’ll be nice to not have to worry about people parking in in front of our house all the time, said Clark. “Just like it used to be. Quiet and no cars in our streets. When we have friends over and stuff, they’ll be able to park. We are very happy. We were at the council meeting last night and found out that they approved it, and my wife was real happy because it was a lot of work to get all the petitions signed.”
According to the Public Works Department, it speaks with the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District monthly and has been working with the district and the school to address the issue.
“PVHS offers plenty of designated parking for students, and we strongly encourage everyone to take advantage of the on-campus spaces provided,” Kenny Klein, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Public Information Officer said in a statement. “Students are also reminded to be respectful of our neighbors as they travel to and from school.”
Klein added students are able to obtain a free school parking pass if they have a current driver’s license, registration, insurance and parent/guardian signature.
The Santa Maria Public Works Department expects the new permit policy to go into effect in Jan. 1, 2026.
“If you do not have a permit and you do not have it displayed on your vehicle, we do have traffic. employees that work through the police department, that will either come and check the neighborhood on occasion and they will answer phone calls,” said Glick. “You don’t have to call 911. You can call the police department and they will send somebody out there to verify that if there is a vehicle parked on one of those streets without a permit, they will be receiving a ticket, so it’s going to be pretty much neighbor enforced and through periodic checks through the police department.”
The streets where the new permits will be required includes Seneca Street, Hearst Court, Donner Court, Domingues Street, Mammoth Drive, Horseman Court, and Rios Court.
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