With residents pressing for more parking restrictions near Riverside’s Mount Rubidoux, it appears the park continues to suffer from its own popularity.

And so do its neighbors, they say.

In 2011, the city created permit-only parking on eight streets near the mountain’s Ninth Street entrance, the most-used way in for hikers and walkers. On the park’s south side, parking is already restricted at all times on Glenwood Drive and at night on San Andreas Avenue.

Some residents say that’s not enough.

It may sound like a minor matter affecting a handful of parking spots, but over the past several years Mount Rubidoux’s parking woes have created bad blood among neighbors, park users and city officials.

The latest request is to eliminate public parking on San Andreas between Tequesquite Avenue and the Glenwood Drive park entrance, taking out roughly 40 spaces. On Wednesday, the city’s Transportation Board will consider the request, and a recommendation by city officials to reject it. The request would come before the City Council if the board approves it.

Residents living near both park entrances have complained of drivers circling the area looking for a parking spot and hikers trampling their yards, making noise and leaving trash behind.

Even with the existing restrictions by the Glenwood entrance, “It’s like Black Friday at Walmart,” said Drew Boice, who lives on Glenwood Drive.

He wasn’t a part of the San Andreas request but said he supports it.

The 2013 opening of nearby Bonaminio Park and its 350-space parking lot hasn’t helped much, Boice said, because people headed for Mount Rubidoux still look for closer spots on the street.

Residents say the mountain’s continued popularity has caused problems near the two main entrances.

With some estimates of more than a million annual visitors to Mount Rubidoux, “Life is unbearable for people on both ends,” said Frances Fernandes, who lives on Redwood Drive by the Ninth Street gate. “The city needs to find solutions.”

Solutions that satisfy everyone have been elusive.

Boice called it “favoritism” by the city to remove parking on one side of the park and add it on the other side, and he questioned why it’s taken two years to get the San Andreas request heard.

Councilman Mike Gardner, who represents the area, said residents near the Glenwood entrance have asked for several changes, such as no public parking on Glenwood Drive and nighttime restrictions on San Andreas, and the city agreed.

There’s not as much parking enforcement as he or residents would like, Gardner said, but that’s due to a city staff shortage. There’s not a clear-cut process on asking to eliminate street parking, Gardner said, and the transportation board only recently decided to take up the San Andreas request.

Residents who want parking restrictions and park users who want access to public streets both have valid points he has to consider, Gardner said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9461 or arobinson@pe.com