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Carlsbad council approves overnight parking restriction on Babylonia Street to curb late-night gatherings
Summary
The council approved a municipal code change restricting overnight parking on both sides of Babylonia Street between 7151 and 7233 from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., citing years of complaints, police calls for service and a neighborhood petition; council members discussed an earlier 10 p.m. start time but kept 11 p.m. for consistency with other city limits.
The Carlsbad City Council voted July 16 to amend the municipal code to prohibit overnight parking on both sides of Babylonia Street between the south property line of 7151 Babylonia Street and the north property line of 7233 Babylonia Street from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
Lieutenant Alonzo Velasco, presenting staff’s recommendation, told the council that police records show the department has responded repeatedly to the 7200 block of Babylonia Street and that, "with just a short window, from January 2022 through 05/12/2024, there have been, over 1,000 calls for service" related to large groups gathering, loud music, drug and alcohol use, fighting and littering. He said residents circulated a petition signed by 27 neighbors within a half-mile to request restrictions.
A nearby property owner who helped organize the petition, Scott Masters, urged the council to begin enforcement at 10:00 p.m. instead of 11:00 p.m., saying he regularly hears loud cars and modified-exhaust vehicles between 10 and 11 p.m. Masters also asked that only the west ("view") side of the street be restricted to avoid inconveniencing residents across the street.
Council members questioned staff about the risk of displacing gatherings to the opposite curb and about consistency with other city parking restrictions. Velasco said staff recommended restricting both curb lines over a roughly 500-foot stretch to avoid pushing the problem across the street and because the traffic safety mobility commission had voted 6–0 in support of staff's recommendation on June 3.
Mayor Blackburn said the goal was to prevent the partying that disturbed neighbors and initially proposed starting enforcement at 10:00 p.m., but council members favored keeping the citywide standard. After discussion the mayor moved to adopt staff’s Option 2 with enforcement from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on both sides of the street; the motion was seconded and the council approved the measure.
Council members noted the restriction can be revisited if it does not solve the problem and asked staff to look into whether a permit system for short-term overflow parking at private events would be feasible.
The council gave staff direction to implement the restriction and update signage in accordance with the municipal code change.
