TITLE
Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by adding Section 10.22.184 establishing a pilot program permitting left curb parking in designated areas, read and adopted as read. (District 3)
DISCUSSION
The Peninsula neighborhood is a parking impacted neighborhood with limited land available for development. Residential streets in this neighborhood can be characterized as short, narrow roadways, perpendicular to Ocean Boulevard, that dead-end at the water’s edge, without sufficient turn-around areas for vehicular traffic. This thereby reduces the space available for safely maneuvering vehicles, to which is attributed the 30 accidents within the subject area during a five-year period; eight of these accidents involved vehicles moving in reverse.
Given the parking challenges that exist in the Peninsula, drivers often park the left side of their vehicles parallel to the left-hand curb out of convenience and safety. This practice is illegal, pursuant to the California Vehicle Code, which has created enforcement issues in the area. The State’s Vehicle Code requires that all vehicles parked along two-way streets have the vehicle’s right-hand wheels within 18 inches of the right-hand curb, unless expressly exempted.
City of Long Beach (City) staff worked with former Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal to find a State legislative solution to this problem. In 2010, AB 2067 was enacted and provides the City with State legislative authority to implement a pilot program that will give Peninsula area drivers the option to park the left side of their vehicles on the left-hand side of the roadway, parallel to and within 18 inches of the left-hand curb on two-way residential streets perpendicular to Ocean Boulevard, beginning at Balboa Place and ending at 72nd Place, with the exclusion of 62nd Place.
As a condition of this authority, the State required the City to make a finding, supported by a professional engineering study, that the pilot program is necessary to facilitate safe and orderly movement of vehicles on the affected roadways. City traffic engineers have completed the study to meet this criterion and concluded that the current parking circumstances could be improved and safety potentially enhanced. The professional engineering study finds that implementation of left-hand parking will likely reduce the chance of unsafe vehicle movements, such as a vehicle needing to drive in reverse to exit a residential street. (Exhibits A and B).
The City is required to enact a local ordinance to establish the Peninsula Pilot Parking Program, per AB 2067. Two years after the ordinance is adopted, the City must submit a report that outlines the safety performance and parking efficiency of the pilot program to the Legislature. The City’s authority to continue the pilot program expires three years after the date the ordinance is adopted, pending further legislative action to make this pilot program permanent. If findings from this pilot program demonstrate that traffic safety is improved upon by allowing vehicles to park on the left-hand side of the roadway, parallel to and within 18 inches of the left-hand curb in the Peninsula area of the City, City Staff will recommend that these regulations become permanent, specific to two-way residential streets perpendicular to Ocean Boulevard, beginning at Balboa Place and ending at 72nd Place, with the exclusion of 62nd Place.
The pilot program is slated to begin no later than December 2015. Signs will be posted on the affected streets to inform motorists that parking on the left-hand side is legal. Additionally, Peninsula residents will be notified by mail on the details of the pilot program.
Interim City Traffic Engineer, Ignacio Ochoa, has reviewed the program and determined that it will maintain safety and reduce the potential for accidents.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Amy Webber on September 15, 2015 and by Budget Management Officer Victoria Bell on August 28, 2015.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on October 6, 2015, in order to begin the implementation of the traffic improvement and safety measures for the impacted areas.
FISCAL IMPACT
The implementation cost of the pilot program is estimated at $2,500. The cost includes notifying residents by mail of the pilot program and the installation of signage to inform motorists that parking on the left side of the road is legal. Sufficient funds are budgeted in FY 16 in the General Fund (GF) in the Public Works Department (PW). Potential revenue loss from decreased parking citations is expected to be minimal.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH AMENDING THE LONG BEACHMUNICIPAL CODE BY ADDING SECTION 10.22.184 ESTABLISHING A PILOT PROGRAM PERMITTING LEFT CURB PARKING IN DESIGNATED AREAS
Respectfully Submitted,
ARA MALOYAN, PE
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
APPROVED:
PATRICK H. WEST
CITY MANAGER