Some days — Fridays and Saturdays, in particular — the 4400 block of Marlborough Avenue is parked so full of used cars for sale that residents can't park near their homes.
"When I bought here ten years ago, there was plenty of parking," said resident Carlos Delgado. "Now, parking is so bad, that I have to park a block away most days."
On Thursday, September 10th, there were seven cars for sale in the first nine parking spaces north of El Cajon Boulevard, where the corner is defined by a Bank of America branch on the east and an auto-parts store on the west. Those cars — and the ones that fill up the rest of the street — crowd out the locals, forcing them to haul groceries and kids a block or two or more to get home.
"That place is so busy because of the bank and the auto-parts store," Delgado said. "It's wide and easy to see the cars that are for sale there every day."
Besides the parking hassle, residents also worry about the safety of the people circling the cars for sale just north of a busy intersection.
On September 9th, the Kensington Talmadge Planning Group voted unanimously to make Marlborough from El Cajon Boulevard to Meade Avenue a no-car-sales district.
"We are going to have a trial period," said planning-group chair David Moty. "The signs go up, we wait 30 days, and then the police start enforcing."
The block is the latest in the whack-a-mole game of informal car lots.
In 2008, the city council passed an ordinance declaring 23 street segments to be no-car-sales zones. After signs went up, enforcement began in Rancho Bernardo, on Sports Arena and Midway, on the Adams Avenue bridge over the 805, on El Cajon Boulevard, as well as on Convoy Street.
Since then, city groups and agencies have sought and obtained those prohibitions for more than a dozen other areas, including City Heights, Southeastern San Diego, and Encanto; National City and Encinitas have similar prohibitions. Fines start at $77.50 per citation and police can issue two citations per day. Police can also impound offending vehicles.
Some days — Fridays and Saturdays, in particular — the 4400 block of Marlborough Avenue is parked so full of used cars for sale that residents can't park near their homes.
"When I bought here ten years ago, there was plenty of parking," said resident Carlos Delgado. "Now, parking is so bad, that I have to park a block away most days."
On Thursday, September 10th, there were seven cars for sale in the first nine parking spaces north of El Cajon Boulevard, where the corner is defined by a Bank of America branch on the east and an auto-parts store on the west. Those cars — and the ones that fill up the rest of the street — crowd out the locals, forcing them to haul groceries and kids a block or two or more to get home.
"That place is so busy because of the bank and the auto-parts store," Delgado said. "It's wide and easy to see the cars that are for sale there every day."
Besides the parking hassle, residents also worry about the safety of the people circling the cars for sale just north of a busy intersection.
On September 9th, the Kensington Talmadge Planning Group voted unanimously to make Marlborough from El Cajon Boulevard to Meade Avenue a no-car-sales district.
"We are going to have a trial period," said planning-group chair David Moty. "The signs go up, we wait 30 days, and then the police start enforcing."
The block is the latest in the whack-a-mole game of informal car lots.
In 2008, the city council passed an ordinance declaring 23 street segments to be no-car-sales zones. After signs went up, enforcement began in Rancho Bernardo, on Sports Arena and Midway, on the Adams Avenue bridge over the 805, on El Cajon Boulevard, as well as on Convoy Street.
Since then, city groups and agencies have sought and obtained those prohibitions for more than a dozen other areas, including City Heights, Southeastern San Diego, and Encanto; National City and Encinitas have similar prohibitions. Fines start at $77.50 per citation and police can issue two citations per day. Police can also impound offending vehicles.
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