BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer
Many people who own motor homes, travel trailers, boats and other oversized vehicles choose to park them on city streets, which exacerbates parking problems and often causes dangerous conditions for drivers and pedestrians. Now the Signal Hill City Council is planning on adopting an ordinance that would sharply curtail the practice.
The council will consider the ordinance at a public hearing set for its October 28 meeting.
“Concerns regarding the traffic safety and parking impacts created by oversized vehicles parking on public streets have caused cities including Lakewood, Bellflower and Paramount to adopt ordinances regulating the on-street parking of oversized vehicles,” said Charlie Honeycutt, Signal Hill’s deputy city manager, in his report to the council last week. He added that Long Beach is considering adopting a similar ordinance and many Signal Hill residents have complained to city officials about traffic hazards and loss of valuable parking space. Honeycutt also noted that some residents of cities that have adopted such ordinances are now parking their oversized vehicles in Signal Hill and the number is gradually increasing.
A few months ago, the consulting firm that serves as the city engineer, W.G. Zimmerman Engineering, Inc., undertook a parking study for the city, which included the evaluation of the impacts associated with the parking of oversized vehicles on city streets. The study found that recreational vehicles (RVs), work trucks and buses driven home by employees are typically eight-and-a-half feet wide (without mirrors) and 24 to 40 feet long. Trailers are usually the same width and 12 to 40 feet long.
“The study further stated that unregulated parking and storing of RVs, trailers and oversized vehicles on city streets are considered detrimental to the city’s welfare and quality of life, create safety hazards, are unsightly and clutter the streets,” Honeycutt emphasized. “These vehicles, when parked, block the sight distance of drivers exiting driveways, creating unsafe situations.” He added that the width of oversized vehicles extends into the driving lane forcing drivers to cross into the opposing lanes of traffic, which increases the likelihood of head-on collisions.
Responding to residents’ concerns and with the parking study in hand, the city’s public works and police department staffs worked with the city attorney’s office to draft an ordinance regulating the parking of oversized vehicles on Signal Hill streets. “The draft oversized vehicle ordinance prohibits parking of vehicles over a certain size on public streets,” Honeycutt explained. “The ordinance also establishes a permit process for individuals seeking to park oversized vehicles on public streets for a short-term basis.”
The proposed law would apply to vehicles and trailers more than 20 feet long, seven feet wide or eight feet tall. Pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles that only slightly exceed those dimensions would be exempted. “Exemptions are also provided to oversized vehicles parked on a public street due to mechanical breakdown (for up to 72 hours), commercial vehicles making pickups or deliveries, tow trucks in the course of providing services, public or utility vehicles in the course of providing services or any public emergency vehicle,” Honeycutt noted.
If adopted by the council, the ordinance would establish an oversized vehicle parking permit, valid for 72 hours. Staff is proposing a $30 fee for each permit. Signal Hill residents would be able to get no more than 12 such permits during any calendar year and non-residents would be able to get no more than six. Oversized vehicle handicapped parking permits would be valid for a year.
“The ordinance also prohibits running electrical cords, extension cords, hoses, cables or other items across, above or on the parkway or sidewalk from a residential or commercial property to an oversized vehicle on a public street,” Honeycutt added.
The Signal Hill Police Department (SHPD) would administer the permit program and issue citations to violators. The ordinance would begin with a 60-day grace period during which the SHPD would only issue warning tickets to violators while conducting a public information program aimed at educating the public regarding the ordinance. After that period, violators would be subject to a fine and or the towing and impounding of their vehicle.
