Council votes to restrict RVs to edges of town

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

Palo Alto City Council voted tonight (Aug. 24) to permit RV dwellers to park on two edges of the city while stopping short of a controversial proposal around businesses and neighborhoods.

The city will offer permits for RV dwellers to park on both sides of Coyote Hill Road outside the Stanford Research Park and on Embarcadero Road by the sewage treatment plant.

But the permits won’t be enough for more than half of the city’s 130 RV dwellers.

Council rejected a proposal to limit RV dwellers to one side of the street on 22 blocks that have been most impacted.

Over 50 people spoke at the meeting. Some people liked the ideas to permit and restrict RVs, but most residents were upset the city wasn’t doing enough to clear the streets.

“We are shocked, offended and outraged,” resident Barry Katz said on behalf of the Ventura Neighborhood Association.

Chamber of Commerce CEO Charlie Weidanz said RV dwellers are creating blind spots, making deliveries dangerous, taking away customer parking, leaving waste and stealing utilities.

“Palo Alto’s small businesses cannot continue to operate under these conditions,” he said.

Landlord Christian Hothem said he’s lost out on potential tenants because of a line of RVs outside 844 E. Charleston Road.

Resident Chris Schremp said he’s part of a coalition that may pursue a citizen’s initiative to ban RVs citywide.

RV dweller Rollin Tschirgi said restricting RV dwellers to one side of the street would just make them park closer together.

Ventura residents said they’ve dealt with the burden of RV dwellers, and the impact shouldn’t be concentrated in south Palo Alto.

So the city will also look at permitting RVs by City Hall on Bryant Street. The police department is moving into its new headquarters, so their patrol cars will no longer park there.

Councilman George Lu also suggested putting RVs south of Forest Avenue, on Encina Avenue and outside the fire station at 301 Alma St.

Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims said she’s interested in permitting RVs at the airport or next to the city’s golf course.

For the permit program, the city will landscape Coyote Hill Road to prevent wildfires and paint new lines on Embarcadero Road so RVs don’t block bike lanes. Both areas will get portable toilets and trash bins, and RV dwellers will be required to have insurance, sign a “good neighbor agreement” and pay a $15 monthly fee.