Agenda Item Wording:
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Potential Municipal Ordinance Update - Receive staff presentation and provide comment and/or direction on Visalia Municipal Code Chapter 10.16.050 Use of Streets for Storage of Vehicles Prohibited (on-going parking).
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Deadline for Action: 10/7/2024
Submitting Department: Community Development
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Jesse Villegas, Code Enforcement Officer, jesse.villegas@visalia.city <mailto:jesse.villegas@visalia.city>, (559) 713-4191,
Tracy Robertshaw, Neighborhood Preservation Manager, tracy.robertshaw@visalia.city <mailto:tracy.robertshaw@visalia.city>, (559) 713-4187,
Paul Bernal, Planning and Community Preservation Director, paul.bernal@visalia.city <mailto:paul.bernal@visalia.city>, (559) 713-4025,
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the Visalia City Council receive the staff report, presentation, and take public comment regarding Visalia Municipal Code Section 10.16.050 “Use of Streets for Storage of Vehicles Prohibited” and direct to staff revise Section 10.16.050, as noted in the staff report. Changes to the Municipal Code will require the revisions to be adopted by a separate ordinance at a future public hearing before the City Council.
Summary:
Over the past year, Code Enforcement and Visalia Police Department have received numerous complaints related to the storage of personal vehicles and the minimal movement of parked or standing vehicles located on the public street. These complaints tend to mostly consist of personal vehicles (i.e., cars and trucks), recreational vehicles, travel trailers, and camper trailers. These vehicles/trailers/RVs have been found to impact city streets as the storage of these vehicles tends to impair traffic flow, obstruct line of sight visibility near intersections, crosswalks and for drivers backing their vehicles out driveways onto public streets. This has also increased new open cases throughout the city for Code Enforcement and increased the number of calls for service for the Visalia Police Department.
Visalia Municipal Code Section 10.16.050 currently states the following:
“No person who owns or has possession, custody or control of any vehicle shall park such vehicle upon any street or alley for more than a consecutive period of seventy-two (72) hours.”
The current code does not elaborate, after 72-hours, the distance said vehicles/trailers should be moved. Due to the ambiguity of this requirement, owners can simply move their vehicle/trailer a couple of feet to come into compliance with the current code provision, which does not remedy the vehicle storage issue and continues to exacerbate impacts to city streets, particularly within residential neighborhoods, resulting in calls to City staff to address this issue.
In an effort to alleviate this issue, staff recommends the City Council consider the potential revision to Section 10.16.050 as follows (underline and italics for additions and strikeout for deletions:
Section 10.16.050
No person who owns or has possession, custody or control of any vehicle shall park such vehicle upon any street or alley for more than a consecutive period of seventy-two (72) hours.
A. Recreational vehicles or temporary recreational vehicles, travel trailers, mobile homes, unattached trailers, boat trailers, and camper trailers may park on any street for a seventy-two (72) hour period of time.
B. No person shall park or stand or permit to park any recreational vehicles or temporary recreational vehicles, travel trailers, mobile homes, unattached trailers, boat trailers, and camper trailers on a street or alley for more than seventy-two (72) hours within a consecutive seven-day period.
C. A vehicle shall be considered to be in violation of this section when it is parked or standing on a street or alley within one thousand linear feet of the same location after seventy-two (72) hours. Distance in linear feet shall be measured along the public street from the original parking location to the new parking location.
Alternatively, the City Council can elect to increase or decrease the distance requirement, if the City Council concludes staff’s recommendation of 1,000 linear feet distance would not have the desired impact to deter individuals from utilizing the streets for long-term storage parking of vehicles, recreational vehicles, temporary recreational vehicles, travel trailers, mobile homes, unattached trailers, boat trailers, and camper trailers.
Please note that the information in this report has been provided to individuals within the Visalia Police Department who are in support of the request to revise this ordinance section to clearly define the distance vehicles/trailers are required to move after being parked on the street for 72 hours.
Analysis:
City staff believes these changes will be beneficial as this will lessen the impact of city streets, allow smoother traffic flow, alleviate sight/visibility issues for pedestrians and drivers backing their vehicles out of driveways onto public streets, and define a distance requirement that vehicles/trailers on public streets would need to be moved in order to remain legally parked after seventy-two (72) hours.
Fiscal Impact:
None at this time
Prior Council Action: N/A
Other: N/A
Alternatives:
The City Council may, in lieu of the recommended motion, direct staff to not process any amendments to Visalia Municipal Code Section 10.16.050 “Use of Streets for Storage of Vehicles Prohibited”
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to direct staff to initiate revisions to Section 10.16.050 “Use of Steets for Storage of Vehicles Prohibited” as identified in the staff report and return to City Council with a proposed ordinance modification.
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Environmental Assessment Status:
The requested action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c)(3) since the activity in question is not a “project” as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378. Furthermore, this action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) since there is no reasonable possibility that it would have a significant effect on the environment.
CEQA Review:
The requested action is not a “project” under CEQA.
Attachments:
1. Chapter 10.16 Stopping, Standing and Parking
2. PowerPoint Presentation