JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Local homeowners are having trouble with parking in their own neighborhood because of football fans.
Last Friday night, cars were blocking the entrance and restricting traffic in and out of the Olde Field Oaks neighborhood as Mandarin High School played a home game.
That football game was between the two biggest schools in Duval County by enrollment.
“It was packed,” said Sarah Dymond, a neighbor. “You couldn’t get in here.”
“I have a smaller SUV and if my car was any bigger, I wouldn’t have been able to get to my house,” said Brittany Lavergne, another neighbor.
Homeowners said lots of spectators used their community as a parking area.
“Anybody trying to get down the street was almost like going to hit another car,” said Dymond.
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The situation is raising concerns from neighbors.
“There is going to be an emergency sometime and I’m sure an ambulance or fire truck would have a hard time trying to get in,” said Tom McDermott.
“I am concerned because I want to be able to leave my house if I want to and I don’t want anyone to hit my car either,” said Dymond.
Lavergne has lived in the neighborhood for almost 6 years. She said she has never seen it that bad.
“It’s been kind of congested every now and then, but this was the first time I actually couldn’t get home,” said Lavergne.
Pictures showed JSO officers out there Friday night, appearing to put someone in handcuffs. Action News Jax reached out to them about the incident, but has not received a response.
Neighbors are hoping something will be done to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“If they had some other kind of parking, that would be good,” said Lavergne. “If there were ‘no parking’ signs here, that would be good.”
The school district said the school’s principal confirmed there were parking issues at last week’s game.
School leadership shared that the school provides game day parking in multiple areas, including the front, back, and side parking lots, as well as the bus loop area.
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