Costa Verde Village will implement assigned parking for its tenants, with parking spots allocated according to the number of bedrooms in an apartment. In addition, the complex now requires its tenants to reserve parking spots in advance for all guests, with reservations having to be renewed every four days.
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Ashley Carmichael, a spokesperson for Costa Verde Village, said that the changes in parking policy are safety precautions against a potential terrorist attack.
“”We are assigning parking — it is for safety,”” Carmichael said. “”There has been a terrorist threat issued against apartment complexes, we have 1,257 apartments, so if someone wanted to hit a San Diego apartment complex, we’d be one of the first.””
Carmichael said that although many tenants are unhappy with the changes being made by management, Costa Verde is going to stick by its new policy.
“”People are mad at us, but we just want to make sure our tenants are taken care of,”” she said.
Costa Verde Village property manager Monica Cuevos said that the complex never intended to have unassigned parking permanently, and that the safety threat is only part of the decision to assign parking.
“”We never had the intention of having unassigned parking,”” she said. “”The gates were always planned. [Costa Verde] is a masterplan community.””
Costa Verde resident Terry Givens has organized a petition against the assigned parking. Givens said that he had not heard that the parking changes were a result of a terrorist threat.
“”I think [Costa Verde management] is grasping at straws,”” Givens said. “”This is the first I’ve heard of it, and I’ve talked to over 70 residents who have gone down to the leasing office and complained.””
Givens has created a petition, which he says asks that Costa Verde reconsider changing their policy, due to the fact that many residents have signed leases that explicitly state that there will be unassigned parking. The petition requests that one parking space be given to each resident, rather than one space per bedroom, or that residents be granted the right to back out on their lease.
Cuevos said that Costa Verde has not yet officially informed residents of the changes in parking policy because it is, by law, required to give residents 60 days notice of any changes.
“”We are at least 60 to 70 days away from actually assigning spaces,”” Cuevos said.
So far, Givens’ petition has generated some response among Costa Verde residents.
“”I think we’ve had 150 e-mails, 100 or so people have petitions that they’re taking around for people on their floors to sign,”” Givens said. “”I’m impressed by the motivation of the residents here.””
Givens feels that unassigned parking ought to be a feature that Costa Verde would not want to lose, in terms of attracting student tenants.
“”A lot of students I’ve talked to need four or five spaces per apartment,”” he said. “”I think they should market the unassigned parking to students.””
Earl Warren College junior Ayrielle Goins, a Costa Verde resident, said that she doesn’t feel that assigning tenant parking and regulating guest parking is going to keep residents safe from potential terrorists.
“”I heard [about the terrorist threat] too, but the fact of the matter is that if someone’s going to pull in and blow up our building, they’re not going to be able to stop it,”” she said.
Thurgood Marshall College sophomore Lauren Hopson, also a Costa Verde resident, said that she feels that the terrorist threat could be a cover-up for other problems, which may be at the root of Costa Verde’s parking changes.
“”They’ve put out notes on our doors about a terrorist threat to apartments but I think that’s a lame excuse for all the parking changes,”” she said. “”I wonder if it has more to do with car thefts and break-ins in Costa Verde garages and they don’t want to admit it. That sounds like a more day-to-day threat than a terrorist bombing the building.””
Cuevos said that the addition of assigned spots and gates was not intended to be an increase in security.
Goins said that having to reserve guest parking is an annoyance for herself and her roommates.
“”For us, guest parking is a pain,”” she said. “”You have to say the make, model, year, color and license plate number of the car, and you can only have two guests per apartment per day.””
Natalie Burke, a Revelle College junior and roommate of Goins, says having to re-register guests every four days is a pain.
“”I asked [Costa Verde] if we had guests everyday if we could put them on some sort of permanent list, but they said they don’t do that here,”” she said.
Hopson said that registering guests is not a problem for her.
“”It’s open 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week,”” she said, “”It’s not like you have to call before 10 p.m. They just look you up in the computer.””
Other apartment complexes in University City have different policies than Costa Verde’s. Regents Court provides extra spaces for $10 a month and La Jolla Del Sol only offers residents one guest permit.
