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Westwood grapples with condo parking issues

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Residents of Waterbridge condominiums will be seeking the Rancho Bernardo Traffic Committee’s assistance Monday night in temporarily halting a petition campaign aimed at preventing them from parking on Westwood streets.

“This is not a permanent stay. We’re just trying to buy a little time,” said Dexter Oliver, a two-year resident of the condominium complex on West Bernardo Drive.

The petition for signs that would prohibit parking on Poblado Road and Botero Drive between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. has been circulating among residents there since early August.

Jim Steinberg, who is spearheading the drive, is expected to turn in the petition Monday night so it can be sent to San Diego’s traffic engineering department for action.

But two days later, on Sept. 27, Waterbridge homeowners have already called a private forum to brainstorm solutions for creating additional parking within their condominium complex.

Oliver has drafted his own proposal to forward to Waterbridge’s board of directors that involves a complete redesign of the front parking lot. He estimates his plan would create about 67 spaces.

“This is a hot button issue right now and it’s the catalyst for doing what we’re doing.” Oliver said. “We do not want to park in Westwood. Believe me, it’s no fun. And we can’t let this keep dragging on for years.”

Oliver attributes Waterbridge’s parking shortfall to poor planning and allocation of spaces by the developer, Villagio LLC. Prior to the complex’s conversion from apartments to condominiums three years ago, there was ample parking available, Oliver said. But now, because each two- and three-bedroom complex comes with either one or two pre-assigned spaces, there are no open spaces for general use.

“Had they (Villagio) not pre-allocated all of the spaces and just assigned every unit one carport spot and left the rest open, we wouldn’t have this problem,” Oliver said. “People have different schedules and some work nights. That’s why they didn’t have this problem when it was apartments.”

Sean Mattingly of PCM, Waterbridge’s property management company, agrees the complex has a serious parking problem. “Obviously, there is shortage of guest parking,” he said. “We have a total of 24 spaces and we’re lucky to have that.”

Earlier this year, Mattingly approached the Westwood Club board of directors offering to pay for Waterbridge residents to use the club lot across the street from the complex for overnight parking.

He also offered to sign an agreement freeing the club from any responsibilities, but the board vetoed his proposal.

So now, Mattingly has come up with a solution similar to Oliver’s plan for the front parking lot. But with an estimated cost of $100,000, money becomes an issue. “It would mean a one-time special assessment and raising the dues for our homeowners,” Mattingly said.

Like Oliver, Mattingly is also counting on the Sept. 27 parking forum for logical, feasible solutions to emerge. “The parking in Westwood is likely to go away,” he said. “We need to get our homeowners to understand the big picture.”

RB Traffic Committee co-chair Robin Kaufman acknowledges the urgent need for finding solutions to overflow parking on Westwood streets. In addition to Waterbridge, the La Terraza apartment complex directly across the street from Westwood Elementary is now being converted to condominiums.

“The parking situation at La Terraza is already terrible,” Kaufman said.

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