CARLSBAD — The city has banned overnight parking on a 500-foot stretch of Babilonia Street to discourage late-night visitors from using a vacant, ocean-view property as a party spot.
On July 16, the City Council approved new parking restrictions prohibiting parking between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on both sides of the road between the south property line of 7151 to the north property line of 7233 Babilonia Street.
City police and staff recommended the change after responding to several complaints over the past decade regarding loud music, drug and alcohol use, littering, fighting, trespassing, and other poor behavior on the property.
Previously, trespassers moved further down the hillside, where they would have rowdy gatherings and start campfires while remaining hidden from the road. Since then, the property owner has installed a fence to prevent trespassers from going over the hill, but it appears to have only moved the late-night parties along the fence and curb instead.
According to Carlsbad police Lt. Alonso DeVelasco, while local residents are satisfied with the overall improvement due to increased police presence, they want the city to take more permanent action to address the issue.
A neighborhood petition was circulated and presented to the city requesting parking be restricted from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. only on the west side of the street adjacent to the property.
DeVelasco explained to the City Council that staff agreed with the petition but recommended changing the times from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. to be consistent with other parking restrictions in the city and avoid ending neighborhood events sooner than necessary.
Scott Masters, who owns the vacant property and lives three lots down, argued to keep the neighborhood’s requested 10 p.m. restriction time due to the noise between 10 and 11 p.m.
“I’m often lying in bed when I hear loud, modified cars during that time,” Masters said. “Eleven seems kind of late, but 10 would be a wonderful time.”
While Mayor Keith Blackburn agreed to change the parking restriction time to 10 p.m., the rest of the council, except Councilmember Carolyn Luna, who was absent, preferred the staff’s recommendation of 11 p.m. Blackburn noted that the council could change the time to 10 p.m. if the problem persists.
Additionally, city staff recommended adding parking restrictions to both sides of the street to prevent the late-night parking issue from spreading to the unrestricted side.
Masters pushed back against this recommendation, explaining that preventing parking on the side of the road with the view would likely deter people from hanging out there.
Both Mayor Pro Tem Priya Bhat-Patel and Councilmember Teresa Acosta noted that trespassers could easily park on the other side of the street and walk over to the view.
“It makes sense to me that we would prohibit both sides,” Acosta said.
According to city staff, four new signs will soon indicate the new time restrictions.
