By Philip Haldiman, Independent Newsmedia

The residents surrounding Liberty High School in North Peoria say they have endured speeding cars, cut-through traffic and blocked driveways since the school opened in 2006.

Community Manager Cari Crew said this has been an ongoing issue for The Meadows at Camino a Lago community bounded by 91st Avenue, Lake Pleasant Parkway, Pinnacle Peak Road and Deer Valley Road, which has nearly 700 homes and has a good while yet before neighborhood completion.

A total of 30 “No Stopping, Standing, Parking 7 a.m.- 4 p.m., School Days” signs have been installed on local streets around Liberty High School, 9621 W. Speckled Gecko Dr., through the resident request and petition process, according to the city.

But Ms. Crew says she still fields complaints from homeowners stating they can’t walk across the streets with children without a fear of being hit by speeding vehicles ignoring the signs. Some homeowners have tried to stop students from parking in front of their homes or blocking driveways and have been verbally harassed in the process, she said.

Several round-abouts pepper the community to help calm traffic, but students simply drive through the medians or ignore stop signs, creating a significant safety issue, as well as additional repair costs to the HOA, she said.

“We have been working with the city and Community Action Officer to help with the unbelievable traffic along the access roads,” she said. “The student parking and driving is, far and away, the single largest issue I deal with at The Meadows ... student traffic and parking is not starting to become an issue, it has been from the outset.”

Police

Brandon Sheffert, a spokesman for the Peoria Police Department, said parking around Liberty High School and other Peoria schools continues to be an issue for several reasons, ranging from residential growth to parking lot capacity.

District policy states student drivers must have a parking permit to park on campus. To obtain one, students must submit a number of documents, including a parking permit application, a parent awareness statement, valid Arizona driver’s license, current Arizona vehicle registration and current proof of insurance.

A permit also requires a $75 parking fee.

Mr. Sheffert said some students do not want to pay for a permit, and consequently park in surrounding neighborhoods, which is legal to do, as long as there are no posted signs permitting it.

On-school police officers, or School Resource Officers, work with students and community members to help everyone and explain the process of requesting neighborhood parking restrictions through the city, he said.

Each of the four high schools within the Peoria Police Department’s coverage area — Peoria High School, Centennial High School, Sunrise Mountain High School and Liberty High School — has one assigned SRO who works with the students to educate them about proper parking and write citations if appropriate.

Mr. Sheffert said SRO’s spend time before and after school in the parking lots and on the streets surrounding the schools, and their presence helps deter traffic violations and other issues.

Patrol officers usually respond to neighbor complaints regarding parking, he said.

“We definitely understand the concerns of community members with the vehicle traffic in their neighborhoods,” Mr. Sheffert said. “Our SRO’s try their hardest to work with the schools, students and community members to address parking issues near schools.”

PUSD

For the last seven years, Liberty’s 650-space parking lot has been at capacity, district officials said. Each year the school creates a waiting list for spaces and assigns new spots as they become available.

PUSD spokeswoman Danielle Airey said the district is unable to track students who legally park on neighborhood streets surrounding the school, and cannot decipher which vehicles are students versus visitors or workers.

However, she said parking in the surrounding neighborhoods tend to increase in the spring when new drivers first get their licenses and want to drive to school.

To mitigate issues, Ms. Airey said the school has sent home communications about being a good neighbor and parking in surrounding neighborhoods, and made several announcements about respecting the neighbors and parking in the surrounding area.

Liberty administrators and the SRO often patrol the neighborhoods to help enforce good neighbor policies, she said.

“We teach our students to respect each other and hope they model this behavior whether in school or out in the community,” Ms. Airey stated in an email. “We greatly appreciate the support from the parents and community members who live near our schools, and we want to work with our communities to resolve any questions or concerns.”

The city

Residents may request traffic studies to bring certain signs or traffic calming devices to their neighborhood, according to city policy.

Brandon Forrey, a city transportation planning engineer, said they are paid for by Peoria as long as there is support from the residents. He estimates the city has spent about $2,250 on signs regarding this issue at Liberty.

In The Meadows at Camino a Lago, residents have been successful petitioning signs for the area, but with more growth poised for the development, more parking signs are likely to continue.

Last summer, the third neighborhood at The Meadows opened, bringing the development to about 45 percent build-out.

Mr. Forrey said as the development has grown, new homeowners experience living near a school for the first time, which sometimes includes students parking on the street.

He said a process occurs in areas where schools are built in new neighborhoods or in areas of existing schools where new homes are built. Liberty High School is following a normal pattern, which is expected to continue, Mr. Forrey said.

“We aways see complaints from residents due to parents picking up and dropping off kids or driving students,” he said. “The residents request ‘no-parking’ signs, which push students somewhere else or deeper into the neighborhood, and those neighbors request new ‘no-parking’ signs. Then things settle down. It’s a process we see at every single school and is very common around high schools.”