This story was first published in Thursday’s Daily Post. To get original reporting first, pick up the Post in the mornings at 1,000 Mid-Peninsula locations.
BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
East Palo Alto Council has approved a parking permit program for residential neighborhoods, but still needs to determine the price of permits.
Council voted 4-1 on Tuesday (Feb. 24), with Councilman Carlos Romero voting no, to approve the program, which was modified after residents were outraged about being charged for parking on their own streets.
Before council heard from residents on July 8, the program was going to affect congested areas, but now it will only affect areas where residents petition for permit zones in their neighborhoods, according to Michelle Hunt, vice president of Hexagon Transportation Consultants, who is working for the city.
Around 200 residents attended the July meeting to oppose paying for permits, arguing that it would affect low-income households.
The program is intended to help residential neighborhoods have more space to park on the street, Hunt said.
Enforcement questions
Council said it would want more than one free permit per household Council was disappointed to learn that its contract with LAZ Parking, a third-party parking enforcer, has not been finalized, despite residents requesting enforcement of the current parking rules.
City Manager Melvin Gaines said the contract would be finalized by the end of this month.
Councilmen Ruben Abrica and Mark Dinan said they would want a report back on how many abandoned cars or illegally parked cars are off the street before looking further into the permit program.
The permit program is a tool to ensure those parked on the street are residents and not from other cities, Lincoln said.
Reaction from residents
Residents were happy to hear that more enforcement would be imple-mented, but were concerned that the program would not reflect the community’s needs.
Isabel Lopez said some residents may struggle to lead a petition when enforcement is needed. In order to implement restrictions, 67% of the neighborhood will have to agree.
Nicole Stewart said the number of permits allowed per household should reflect the number of large families living in the city.
Dinan said the program should not be punitive and if it doesn’t work, council will revisit it. The program will help the city from being taken advantage of since it doesn’t enforce parking, Dinan said.
Permit details
Permits will only be issued to cars, not RVs, taxis, trailers or boats, and will need to be renewed after a year, according to Hunt. Each household will have up to 20 guest parking permits per year, but can request more from Public Works.
Council will revisit the program on March 17, where it will discuss having a citywide parking study, according to Hunt.
This is how local government works. First they enable out of control under-parked real-estate development, then when residents complain, local government’s solution always involves charging residents a monthly fee for the solution to the problem local government created.
This is another example of why everyone with a brain is fleeing Kalifornia.
Government gets in the way of everything and “elected” officials demonstrate less and less common sense.
It seems these people go our other their way to create problems for residents that shouldn’t require solutions that involve taxpayers spending money.
Palo Alto Municipal Code Section 18.52.030 bans longterm parking on city streets. Council needs to instruct police to enforce these ordinances. Inform them that insubordination is cause for termination. If the problem isn’t solved, terminate the insubordinate officers and replace them. Don’t worry about the people in the RVs. They’ll move on to the next town.
EPA’s loose and/or unenforced street parking rules have long resulted in junk cars that are never moved, non-resident workers (contractors, gardeners,etc.) that work in nearby Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and other cities with stricter & enforced parking rules leaving work trucks and other commercial vehicles parked in EPA over nights and weekends, as well as many single family homes whose various rooms and garages are occupied by extended families and/or many unrelated driver-tenants who must park their many cars on the streets due to the notoriously high housing costs.