Video: CHS Neighbors Upset Over Parking, Traffic, Trash, Sex and Noise Situation

Julie Peebles Peterson, a RONPAS member, wants Carlsbad High School, the Carlsbad Unified School District, the city and the police to help her and her fellow neighbors reclaim their neighborhood parking and sanity. 

"We haven’t had street sweeping on our street for probably two years," said Peebles Peterson.

In addition to dirty streets, she told Carlsbad Patch in an interview, neighbors have complained about students urinating on their lawns, doing drugs and even having sex in front of their homes.

RONPAS member Maria Curry who has lived near CHS for 15 years said it is the noise that bothered her the most. "I found it put me in a bad mood," she explained. Fortunately some of the noise pollution has been eliminated after members of RONPAS reached out to the school and school board for help. Pop Warner football for instance, no longer uses a loud PA system from morning till night on Saturdays. 

However, Curry who is a real estate agent, said noise pollution does more than just put people like herself in bad moods. It's also dropping property values. "A neighbor had her house appraised it and was appraised for $50,000 less due to being near the school. The appraiser happened to be there when school had just let out," she said.

Parking and traffic are other causes of concern for neighbors who were once optimistic that the new parking lot at CHS would make the situation better. 

Unfortunately, many students avoid the new lot.

"From my conversations with students, the parking lot is far from classrooms and students would rather park on street closer to their classrooms," said CHS Principal Matt Steitz. 

Principal Steitz said the school is actively working on getting students to use the parking lot. Currently, to get a free parking permit for the lot students must attend a start smart class then turn in their insurance and paperwork. However, out of 300 students who have taken the class, only 100 followed through to get to permit, said Steitz.

"We tell them park in the parking lot anyway, but there are still not filling it up," explained Steitz.

Another reason students said they don't park in the lot is because it takes too long to exit it. Steitz said the school is working with city on making it easier for students to exit parking lot and hopes to find solution that works for the RONPAS group as well.