SAN DIEGO — Neighbors in South Clairemont reached out to CBS 8 about the parking situation in their neighborhood off Clairemont Drive, and with new apartment complexes being built in the area, they foresee the parking problems getting even worse.
“It’s already a mess. You add up to a thousand more cars a day coming down this road, it’s really going to be a mess,” said Dave Cale, who has lived in South Clairemont for over 60 years. “It is so frustrating and to think that there adding so much more without a forethought is really frustrating.”
Cale sent CBS 8 pictures he took in the evening hours, showing how impossible it is to find parking on his street.
“Come up here on an evening and try to find a parking space,” said Cale. “You can’t do it.”
So Cale took CBS 8’s Brian White for a tour of the neighborhood in his truck. First, he pointed out several ADU’s being built on his street.
“They are adding quite a few of the granny flats in this neighborhood and there’s one here,” said Cale while pointing to an ADU being built behind a home. “There’s a lot of people doing this and it adds to their income. It also adds to the parking problem.”
To exacerbate traffic issues, several new apartment complexes are being built along an already-congested Clairemont Drive.
“To the left here, you’re going to lose two churches and they’re going to put 80 condo units in here,” said Cale while driving along the 3400 block of Clairemont Drive. As he drove further down to the 3000 block, Cale said, “To the right here is going to be 19 apartment units right next to Champ’s right in there.”
Another 224 units are being proposed for construction behind the Sprout’s shopping center on Cowley Way. It’ll have 350 parking spaces, but Dave says plenty more cars will be parking on the street.
“As usual, there’s no parking on this street,” said Cale while driving on Cowley Way.
CBS 8 reached out to the City of San Diego about the parking issues, and spokesperson Scott Robinson replied with this statement:
“Parking regulations for multi-family developments in Transit Priority Areas provide flexibility to homebuilders by encouraging the construction of more affordable and inclusive home units while eliminating parking requirements. The regulations help lower home costs and encourage residents to use alternative modes of transportation such as walking, biking and convenient, nearby public transit.”
CBS 8 checked the map, and as it turns out, this section of Clairemont Drive isn’t technically within the Transit Priority Area until you get further down the hill by the trolley station. So the new apartment complexes will come with a number of parking spaces, but Dave says it won’t be enough.
“They have parking with the units in the complexes,” said Cale while driving along Cowley Way. “But obviously it’s not enough because the streets are full.”
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WATCH RELATED: Neighborhood battle brewing over apartment project in Clairemont (Aug. 2022).