More restrictions on RV parking

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a set of guidelines for the prohibition of long-term parking for recreational vehicles and other specified vehicles on designated residential county roads.

While the supervisors’ 5-0 vote September 20 to adopt the guidelines does not create any initial ordinance, the guidelines address the procedures to be taken for vehicles deemed to create traffic engineering or operational issues and for vehicles deemed to be aesthetic issues. The implementation of the guidelines will be a joint responsibility of the California Highway Patrol and the county’s Department of Public Works.

“It was trying to promote another tool to help communities deal with this situation,” John Snyder, the director of the Department Public Works, said of the process which led to the development of the guidelines.

County staff and the California Highway Patrol have both received numerous citizen complaints about recreational vehicles stored on residential streets. The guidelines are intended to address not only recreational vehicles such as motor homes but also horse trailers, empty trailers, boat trailers, and other large vehicles.

An existing county ordinance prohibits storage of vehicles on county-maintained roads, but that ordinance has a 72-hour maximum and RV owners often move their vehicles to comply with the time limit.

The California Vehicle Code allows local authorities to prohibit certain types of vehicles on certain roads. Specific references in that section include preferential parking for residents and merchants adjacent to the streets, along with their guests, and prohibiting vehicles at least six feet in height within 100 feet of any intersection.

The county’s current Code of Regulatory Ordinances prohibits commercial vehicles with a manufacturer’s gross weight rating of at least 10,000 pounds from parking or standing in residential areas. Many recreational vehicles have the same wheelbase as commercial vehicles and thus cause sight obstructions or force vehicles to cross over center lines.

In October 2005 the county’s Traffic Advisory Committee reviewed the issue of residents adversely affected by RV parking. The TAC was supportive of the residents but noted that the California Vehicle Code does not grant the supervisors authority to restrict the parking of certain vehicles. The TAC also noted that the California Highway Patrol was the appropriate agency to take a statewide role in presenting the issue to the state legislature, which has granted cities but not unincorporated areas authority over certain matters. In December 2005 the Board of Supervisors directed the county’s Chief Administrative Officer to research the feasibility of amending the county’s Code of Regulatory Ordinances in case the county had legal authority to prohibit RV parking on residential streets.

The TAC revisited the issue July 14 and recommended guidelines which were approved by the supervisors on September 20. When the Department of Public Works becomes aware of a condition where a parked vehicle may be creating roadway operational issues such as obstructing sight or forcing other vehicles across a center line, DPW staff will perform a traffic engineering study.

If the traffic engineering study determines that traffic engineering or operational issues have been created by the parked vehicle or vehicles, the item will be referred to the Traffic Advisory Committee. The TAC will solicit input from affected homeowners and the appropriate planning or sponsor group, and if the TAC believes that regulation is needed a recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors for approval.

If the traffic engineering study determines that the vehicles do not create engineering or operational issues but rather a quality of life or community aesthetic matter, the problem will be resolved at the community level. If a resident or residents wish to pursue regulatory action, the applicants will need to identify the area to be affected, prepare and present a petition with support of two-thirds of the area’s residents, provide the map to DPW staff, and bring the proposal for review by the planning or sponsor group and by any appropriate neighborhood associations. If the planning or sponsor group supports the proposed regulation, the applicants will forward the proposal to DPW staff to be placed on the TAC agenda, and the TAC will forward a recommendation to the supervisors.

DPW will also administer two pilot programs at two designated locations to be determined. One pilot program will create a full-time parking prohibition while the other will prohibit vehicles only during certain hours. After one year DPW staff will provide a report to the TAC on the pilot programs.

If the supervisors adopt a regulation, DPW will install appropriate signage. The regulation and signage will identify the vehicles being prohibited by description, size, or both. The regulation will allow for citations and also for removal of the vehicle at the discretion of the California Highway Patrol, which will provide the enforcement. DPW will also provide the CHP with application forms for a 48-hour permit so that a vehicle can be parked in a restricted area for loading or unloading purposes, and the CHP will administer the permit process.