Young drivers attending Oak Park High School this fall could have a tougher time finding parking spaces off campus if the Municipal Advisory Council has its way.

MAC members last week created a subcommittee with Chair Mike Green and Vice Chair Mike McReynolds to come up with solutions that will discourage students from parking on neighboring streets during school hours.

The subcommittee will meet with authorities, school leaders and park officials in August to discuss the parking problems before school resumes.

Possible actions could include banning parking on one side of Calle Rio Vista and Oak Hills Drive, imposing parking restrictions on some cul-de-sacs south of the high school, and providing carpooling incentives for students.

“At this point we don’t have answers. There are a lot of things possible, but we have to talk about it,” Green said. “We’re just throwing it out on the table to alleviate some of the problems.”

Parking troubles are most notable in the spring when sophomores receive their driver’s licenses, but can’t get a permit from the school district to park on campus.

The residential streets most impacted by parking overflow last year were Rockedge Drive and Tranquil Lane, Green said.

“The kids have been parking in those areas, annoying the homeowners because they block the driveways of homes,” he said.

Another area of concern is northwest of the school on Calle Rio Vista and Oak Hills Drive because those streets are too narrow to accommodate parking on both sides of the road.

Earlier this year, the county transportation department proposed installing signs to prohibit parking along a 240-foot stretch of Calle Rio Vista and a 134-foot section of Oak Hills Drive.

The proposed prohibition faces two hurdles: Supervisor Linda Parks wants to conduct a survey to make sure residents agree with the change, and the Board of Supervisors must approve the move because the noparking zone affects more than 300 feet of roadway.

Oak Park Unified School District Superintendent Tony Knight said he looks forward to the interagency meeting.

“The parking problem is not new, but it’s becoming bigger because more students are driving to school,” Knight said.

Enrollment at Oak Park High is projected to increase from about 1,300 to 1,400 pupils this fall. The campus has 365 parking spaces.

Knight said the district does not issue parking passes to sophomores in the middle of the school year because spaces already are occupied with vehicles belonging to juniors and seniors.

“We would rather that fewer students drive to school,” Knight said.

Knight said the district is considering incentives to encourage car pooling. For instance, the high school could dedicate premium spaces near the school to students who carpool consistently, he said.

“We want to use a positive approach; it’s usually better than punitive,” he said.

Knight said parking restrictions won’t solve all the problems.

“The good thing is it will make some areas safer, but the bad thing is it will push students to find other spots in the neighborhood,” he said.

McReynolds said the subcommittee will explore all possible options before suggesting changes in community parking.

The MAC will probably conduct a survey of residents, request the traffic department to review the subcommittee’s recommendations, and then make its own recommendation.

“The way I see, it the subcommittee will need to study the whole area,” McReynolds said.