ESCONDIDO -- Escondido residents voiced mixed opinions Tuesday night at the first of two city-sponsored forums on the City Council's proposal to create overnight parking restrictions on residential streets.

More than 60 people attended the forum at City Hall, where city staff members gave a presentation on the issues they hope to address in crafting the ordinance. Thirty attendees spoke at the forum, a little more than half of whom spoke in favor of a parking ordinance.

Members of the Escondido City Council had decided not to attend the two forums this week in order to create a less formal setting in which the public would feel comfortable to speak freely. City staffers will report the results, as well as comments received through e-mail, phone calls and mail, to the council before it decides on the specifics of the ordinance.

A second forum will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 201 N. Broadway.

Some council members say the overnight parking ordinance will reduce overcrowding in neighborhoods where multiple families live in homes meant for single families. They say the ordinance will have benefits such as cleaner streets, less crime, an increase in property values and a better overall quality of life in Escondido.

The majority of the speakers Tuesday agreed with the council, although a few of the supporters who stepped up to the microphone weren't Escondido residents.

Jim Hundley, who lives on the city's eastern edge, said finding a parking space in some neighborhoods is almost impossible.

"They're up and down the streets, they're around the corners," Hundley said. "I think the City Council is really on the right path of making Escondido a nice, liveable community."

But opponents said the ordinance will leave many residents with few parking options or could force them to pay to park in front of their homes, which would be an additional expense that some people can't afford. Families generally have more cars than they did in previous generations, and many of the city's homes weren't designed to accommodate so many vehicles, opponents said.

"Many of my neighbors and myself all rely on street parking," said Peter Kiefer, who lives in eastern Escondido. "This ordinance that the council wants to adopt is unrealistic."

The council wants to base the new parking ordinance on an existing law in Menlo Park, an affluent city of about 30,000 people in Northern California. That law prohibits parking on residential streets from 2 to 5 a.m., although there are exceptions and residents can buy up to 100 one-time overnight parking permits per year.

Several supporters of an Escondido parking ordinance referred to the crowded curbs of the "flower streets," those named after flowers in a heavily populated neighborhood in eastern Escondido, as the most egregious example of too many parked cars.

Diane Hill, an Escondido Realtor, said she has difficulty finding places for her and her clients to park when she shows a house, which can make selling it difficult.

"The property values have gone down substantially compared to other areas because of the parking problems going on," Hill said.

But Roy Garrett, who lives in the Los Arboles neighborhood east of downtown, saw it differently.

He said developers might be reluctant to build in Escondido and potential home buyers might not want to move here if the council approves the parking ordinance. Also, Garrett said, some of his neighbors have to share homes with several family members because of the high cost of housing.

"Many of them pay the rent with multiple bread winners," Garrett said. "Now, those folks, all of them, have to drive to work."

Opponents also said the city should do more to enforce current ordinances that would improve the city's appearance first, such as citing the owners of cars illegally parked in yards.

Old Escondido resident Ellyn Hae reported at the forum that a petition she began last week against the ordinance had gotten close to 200 signatures.

Some supporters said that while they liked the idea of the ordinance, certain exceptions should be made, such as allowing elderly or handicapped people to park on the street if it is closer to their door than a garage or other parking.

- Contact staff writer Paul Eakins at (760) 740-5420 or peakins@nctimes.com.