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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10-12; City Council; 17834; Paseo Del Norte no parking zonen TITLE: ESTABLISH A NO PARKING ZONE BETWEEN 12:OO MIDNIGHT AND 500 A.M., SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, ON BOTH SIDES OF PASEO DEL NORTE FROM CITY OF CARLSBAD - AGENDA BILL DEPT. HD. CITY ATTY. U N h I m z 0 z a, (d c .rl a $4 0 a a, 0 5 a 0 $4 u G .rl d 4 2 2 V U 0 \ N d \ 0 d z 0 F 0 a J G z 3 0 0 LB# 17,834 ATG. 10/12/04 IEPT. ENG POINSETTIA LANE TO CAMINO DE LAS ONDAS lClTY MGR. %-- RECOMMENDED ACTION: Introduce Ordinance No. NS-724 amending the Carlsbad Municipal Code to designate No Parking between 12:OO midnight and 5:OO a.m., seven days a week, on both sides of Paseo Del Norte from Poinsettia Lane to its intersection with Camino de las Ondas. ITEM EXPLANATION: The Carlsbad Police Department regularly receives complaints about vehicles with For Sale signs being parked for long periods on Paseo Del Norte from Poinsettia Lane to Camino de las Ondas. Many of the vehicles are parked for the sole purpose of selling vehicles as this location has spread by word of mouth as an ideal street to display vehicles with For Sale signs. A license plate check by the Police Department reveals many of the vehicles being sold are from locations outside Carlsbad. Vehicles are typically parked late in the week and left over the weekend for viewing and then driven away early in the week. The Police Department has issued citations for a variety of violations such as the 72-hour maximum parking time limit, parking in the bicycle lane or in the no parking anytime zone, and expired vehicle registration/license. Safety concerns have been observed as potential buyers stop to view the For Sale vehicles and park in the bicycle lane, double park, or walk in the traffic lane from vehicle to vehicle. Because the For Sale vehicles are parked for extended periods, vandalism of some vehicles has occurred. The need for constant monitoring of vehicles for violations of the 72-hour maximum parking time limit impacts the limited police resources available. A parking restriction at night is self-regulating. Drivers observe the signs and comply. Drivers ignoring the parking time restriction expose their vehicle to easy recognition of being in violation and the vehicle is subject to a citation or being towed. A parking restriction between 12:OO midnight and 5:OO a.m. will eliminate many of the vehicles with For Sale signs because of the long-term parking of these vehicles that occurs. Daily daytime parking, such as commuters using the street as a park and ride location or local residents parking on the street, will not be impacted by a night restriction. Complaints to the Police Department by local residents should diminish. This item was discussed at the July 12, 2004 Traffic Safety Commission meeting. By a 4-0 vote, the Commission recommended that a No Parking time limit be established between 12:OO midnight and 5:OO a.m., seven days a week, on Paseo Del Norte from Poinsettia Lane to Camino de las Ondas. If the City Council adopts the ordinance to establish the parking restriction at night, the Traffic Safety Commission asked staff to study the effectiveness of the restriction and provide a report to the Commission six months after the restriction is implemented. Page 2 of Agenda Bill No. 17,834 FISCAL IMPACT: Installing 12 No Parking signs that designate the time for the parking restriction will cost about $1,500. EXHIBITS: 1. Location Map. 2. Traffic Safety Commission minutes of July 12, 2004. 3. Ordinance No. NS-724 amending the Carlsbad Municipal Code to designate No Parking between 12:OO midnight and 500 a.m., seven days a week, on both sides of Paseo Del Norte from Poinsettia Lane to its intersection with Camino de las Ondas. DEPARTMENT CONTACT: Robert T. Johnson, Jr., (760) 602-2752, biohn8ci.carlsbad.ca.us a LOCATION MAP CAMlNO DE LAS ONDAS SUNFLOWER WAY I HARBOR A ;ET a I I EXISTING i NO PARKING ZONE \ / EXHIBIT NOT TO SCALE PROJECT NAME PASEO DEL NORTE -7 PROPOSED NO PARKING ZONE 12:OO MIDNIGHT TO 5:OO A.M. 3 DRAM' BY SCOn EVANS, CARLSBAD ENGYNEERING DEFT. 6/16/04 C. \TRAFFIC\YURRAY\NO PARKING-PDN-GINGER DWG /- NO PARKING ZONE 72:OO MIDNIGHT TO 5:OO A.M. EXkTlNG NO PARKING ZONE y POINSETTIA LANE July 12,2004 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 6 e stop signs on Ocean Street. Do they think that putting a stop sign here is goi the issue of running a stop sign is an enforcement is ave the potential for a collision becau on Cypress Avenue a little bit different than we a stop sign on the stem of the f the T-intersection for a stop rsection. This intersection was done in a situation. Staff does no normally would address a T-intersection and then as sign and then at that time it becomes somewhat backwards manner. MOTION: Cress, Dorsey, Courtney, Roney /a""'"", None \ ITEM NO. 6B Mr. Johnson mentioned that this item was initiated by the Carlsbad Police Department and OEcer Alex Mitkovich is in the audience and available to answer any questions. Officer Mitkovich brought this matter to the attention of Lt. Shipley and asked that it be brought forward to the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee, a staff committee. Ultimately, the Committee recommended that this item be brought forward to the Traffic Safety Commission. Continuing, Mr. Johnson said that he purpose of this item is to establish a NO PARKING time limit from 12:OO midnight to 5:OO a.m., seven days a week on both sides of Paseo del Norte from Poinsettia Lane to Camino de las Ondas. For years, vehicles have parked on both sides of Paseo del Norte from Poinsettia Lane northerly to the area primarily between Ginger Avenue and south of July 12,2004 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 7 Sunflower Way, the limits have expanded to Camino de las Ondas. The portion of road immediately north of Poinsettia Lane currently is an existing no parking zone. There is a small area at the Ginger and Harbor Pointe Road intersections where a year ago, for corner sight distance purposes, a no parking zone was established. Where there is parking allowed in between the no parking areas on both sides of the street and up to Camino de las Ondas, commuters park there daily and use the area as a park and ride where they meet their carpool at that location. That is legal parking. Any vehicle can park on a city street up to 72 hours as long as they are legally parked and there are no other time limits. The neighbors have their friends come over during the day and also park there. Even when this happens during the night it is not the issue. Mi. Johnson stated what has become an issue and has upset many of the residents living on both sides, primarily on the east side, is the number of vehicles that are starting to park on Paseo del Norte with a For Sale sign in the vehicle on the windshield. Many of those vehicles are now showing up to park primarily for the weekend. Drivers park the vehicle on a Thursday night or a Friday and leave the vehicle there the entire weekend with no intention of moving the vehicle. Their sole purpose is to have the vehicle parked on the street with the For Sale sign displayed so that people driving along Paseo del Norte will notice the vehicle and stop and read whatever information is on the For Sale sign, take down telephone numbers, cost of the vehicle, etc. In response to the complaints about the vehicles being parked there for extended lengths of time, longer than 72 hours, Officer Mitkovich has gone out and worked the area, marked the tires, and even towed vehicles when not within the 72 hour compliance. It has become an issue requiring significant police enforcement efforts in response to the complaints that are generated as a result of the vehicles being parked on Paseo del Norte. Our police do practice the community-oriented policing, so they try to the best of their ability to be responsive to the complaints that are generated. Obviously, there are priorities in police work, but officers will try to get to the various areas as best as they can. Officer Mitkovich has done his best he can to address the complaints in this area about parked vehicles. Mi. Johnson informed the Commission that when running license plate numbers, Officer Mitkovich has found that these are not just Carlsbad residents, but vehicles from outside the area - from cities like Fallbrook and others outside of Carlsbad. The area is becoming somewhat renowned as a location to bring a vehicle and put a For Sale sign on it, park it there and probably have good luck in getting the vehicle noticed and having it sold eventually. Mr.. Johnson said that one of the concerns that the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee discussed was the safety aspect of vehicles being parked there. Drivers that want to observe a parked vehicle will park illegally in a no parking zone, walk up and look at the For Sale cars, they will park in the bike lane, get out and look at the vehicle, and will walk in the bike or partially in the traffic lane as they maneuver around the vehicles from one side or the other as they go from car to car to see what July 12,2004 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 8 is for sale and how much. This becomes a safety hazard. Officer Mitkovich has indicated to staff that he has been there conducting parking enforcement and drivers have pulled up and illegally parked while he was Writing a ticket and his squad car was parked next to where the ticketed cars are located. Drivers are careless when it comes to vehicle safety and their own pedestrian safety when it comes to looking at these vehicles. Mr. Johnson mentioned that the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee discussed the issue and determined it appears that the 72-hour time limit is only partially effective in dealing with the issues. For the parked vehicles that aren’t the problem it really doesn’t matter that we have a 72-hour limit. That means that the car-poolers are not a problem. Carpool vehicles will get there in the morning and they will leave at night. That is not an issue. Certainly bicycle lane parking, parking in the No Parking zone and then vehicles being parked For Sale having registration issues such as expired registration is a problem. The Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee discussed their concern of establishing a parking time limit might just push the problem further to the north, perhaps north of Camino de las Ondas. However, the subject location north of Poinsettia Lane and south of Carnino de las Ondas appears to be such a prime location that staff really doesn’t believe the vehicles will be moving further to the north. This location is very convenient to pull off the 1-5 to get to Poinsettia Lane and then park the vehicle on Paseo del Norte with a For Sale sign and leave it there. Drivers then go on their way and then come back 2-3 days later or longer. The Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee further recommended that in addition to a night time restriction from 12 midnight to 5:OO a.m. seven days a week, which would allow the vehicles to be towed, it would be very apparent that the vehicles should not be there overnight. In addition to the recommended time restriction, the Committee recommended that this be a pilot program for six months to give it a try to see what kind of problems it might create, if any, with vehicles being moved to other locations, to see how effective the no parking restrictions are and if the drivers are complying with the restriction. The time limits would be clearly posted on a sign in this particular area. DISCUSSION: Vice-Chair Dorsey asked Officer Mitkovich how much of the parking in the designated area was from local residents from housing in the neighborhood. Officer Mitkovich explained that the number was about 50/50 with residents from all over Carlsbad. Some vehicles come from as far as Mission Viejo and Paso Robles and park there also. It has become a destination to sell vehicles. The parkers have caught on to him and they move their cars when they see their tires marked. July 12,2004 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 9 Vice-Chair Dorsey stated that his concern was if we have the no parking midnight to 5:OO a.m. restriction and some of these people actually live there and need to park on the street for whatever reason, such as too many vehicles for their own private parking off street, what are they going to do now? Officer Mitkovich stated that there is plenty of parking on Ginger to Carnation, and there are really no houses fronting on Paseo del Norte. It’s a gated community and there is plenty of parking there. The other folks have Carnation and Ginger and Sunflower to park on. Vice-Chair Dorsey stated he assumed that Camino de las Ondas is far enough away from Poinsettia Lane to not be a natural attraction for these types of vehicles to be parked north of.. Officer Mitkovich agreed. Commissioner Roney stated that the real issue is the sales activity. He asked if we needed some kind of ordinance on that function and while doing the six-month trial that we come back with some information. He said people stand around and they get pretty involved and don’t pay attention to traffic. Mr. Johnson stated that the issue is the vehicles with For Sale signs and the complaints that are being generated to the Police Department. They try to be responsive. The City Attorney has indicated that he does not believe we can enforce the issue of someone having a For Sale sign in the window. So we have to attack that particular problem in a different way. Right now the only tools available to the Police Department are the 72-hour limit and that drivers have to move the vehicle at least one-tenth of a mile after the 7-hour time period. In summary, the For Sale vehicles are generating a number of complaints and the police are trying to be responsive to it. Chair Cress stated that he lived in the general area and he drives down Paseo del Norte all the time, and it does look pretty tacky seeing all of those vehicles out there with those For Sale signs on them. Commissioner Courtney stated that he has worked for the City of San Marcos for over ten years, and the ordinance that San Marcos had for a similar situation was the state law, 72 hours on any street or highway. They added a sentence to that that said “successive acts of parking in the same block or within the same one-tenth of a mile constitute the same act of parking.” So drivers were ticketed anyway if they just roll up to get rid of the chalk marks on the tires. If they’re still on the same block, they got ticketed. Also, San Marcos instituted an ordinance that stated no auto sales anywhere in the city unless it was in a zone for auto sales. Also, they have an ordinance that you cannot park a vehicle on the city streets for the purposes of maintenance or advertising it for sale without a permit, and of course, San Marcos won’t give a permit for it. These ordinances seem to work for San I July 12,2004 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION Page 10 Marcos. They printed up a bunch of notices and they were pretty effective, sticking them on windshield wipers and drivers quit doing the illegal parking. If they didn’t, they were towed away. Chair Cress asked Mi. Johnson if midnight was the usual cut-off time for these, or 2:OO a.m. to 5:OO a.m. like on Harding. Any special reason why it was cut off at midnight instead of 2:OO a.m.? Mr. Johnson responded that there are different time limits at night, some at 1 :00 a.m., 2:OO a.m., and for this particular issue, midnight was decided upon in that there really are not a lot of residents parking on the street - it’s just simply too far from the homes to be a convenient place for someone to park there to visit a house or go to a party. It seems to satisfy the need for those that might use the road as a park and ride area, which is acceptable because the vehicles are moved everyday. The Committee chose 12:OO midnight for those reasons and it seemed to be a logical cut-off point. Chair Cress asked if this went to the City Council would they pass this on a temporary basis, or for six months, or is it that we just monitor it for six months? Mr. Johnson stated that that the ordinance would be a permanent ordinance but the Commission could recommend the pilot program aspect. The City Council would ask that a report go back to the Commission in six months as to the effectiveness of the ordinance and any recommendations for any changes if it were not effective, such as if there were complaints about the 12 midnight being too early in the evening or in the night, if the problem is pushed further north on Camino de las Ondas, or whatever the complaints may be over that six months. It would be up to staff to gather that information and bring back a report to the Commission that would then in turn go to City Council. That is the pilot program aspect that the City Council would be looking at. Vice-Chair Dorsey asked Mr. Johnson if it was the plan for his department to review this in six months and see what has happened? Mr. Johnson stated that it would be if the City Council agrees with the ordinance. If the Commission recommends the time restriction and Council reviews the matter and says no to the night restriction, then the police will handle this situation as they currently handle it, as best as they can. Staff would not necessarily be monitoring the area unless directed. 8 July 12,2004 TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMISSION 4.kh.b i k a Page 11 MOTION: ACTION: Motion by Vice-Chair Dorsey and duly seconded by Commissioner Roney, to accept the recommendation of the Traffic Safety Coordinating Committee that a parking restriction be implemented between the hours of 12:OO midnight and 5:OO a.m. seven days a week on both sides of Paseo del Norte fiom Poinsettia Lane to Camino de las Ondas. The Committee further recommends that the restriction be monitored for six months for effectiveness and to determine if the For Sale vehicles are being relocated northerly on Paseo del Norte fiom their current parked position. VOTE: 4-0-0 AYES: Cress, Dorsey, Courtney, Roney NOES: None ABSTAIN: None Mr. Johnson stated t to the Commission and ocal agencies and traffic olicies and procedures for traffic as been the document engineers as the manual to some deviations and exceptions 11 respects except in a few that were made for purposes of bein fiom the national manual, but in will now start to reference MUTCD. Those are ters on school areas, traffic signals, si ffic Manual in reports to the Traffic Safety Commission. I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ORDINANCE NO. NS-724 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING TITLE 10, CHAPTER 10.40 OF THE CARLSBAD MUNICIPAL CODE BY THE REVISION OF SECTION 10.40.072 TO DECLARE NO PARKING BETWEEN 12:OO MIDNIGHT AND 5:OO A.M., SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, ON BOTH SIDES OF PASEO DEL NORTE FROM POINSETTIA LANE TO ITS INTERSECTION WITH CAMINO DE LAS ONDAS. The City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, hereby ordains as follows: SECTION 1 : That Title 10, Chapter 10.40 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code is amended by the addition of Section 10.40.072(c) to read as follows: "(c) There will be no parking on both sides of Paseo Del Norte between 12:OO midnight and 500 a.m., seven days a week, from Poinsettia Lane to Camino de las Ondas." EFFECTIVE DATE: This ordinance shall be effective thirty (30) days after its adoption and the City Clerk, City of Carlsbad, shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance and cause it to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Carlsbad within fifteen (1 5) days after its adoption. INTRODUCED AND FIRST READ at a regular meeting of said City Council held on the 12th dayof October ,2004, and thereafter, PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Carlsbad City Council held on the day of , 2004 by the following vote, to wit: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: CLAUDE A. LEWIS, Mayor ATTEST: LORRAINE M. WOOD, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY RONALD R. BALL, City Attorney (SEAL)