Salinas city council to consider regulating parking of over-sized cars

UPDATE 6/4/2018 6 p.m.: The Salinas City Council will discuss an ordinance prohibiting the parking of oversized vehicles on city streets, roads, alleys and other public spaces at its next meeting.

Oversized vehicles are defined as being more than 20-feet long or 7 feet high, including recreational vehicles, trailers, boats and commercial vehicles. There are some exceptions to the ordinance, including “commercial activities of a limited duration for deliveries” or “temporary loading or unloading of such vehicles between 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.”

Council member Steve McShane requested the action after receiving a number of complaints from residents.

“The huge number of RV’s in the city of Salinas where people are living on streets has become very, very big problem,” McShane said. “It’s just grown out of proportion.”

Some of the hotspots are Griffin Street between Alisal and John Streets, Bridge Street between North Main and Rossi and the city-owned property between the Salinas Rodeo Grounds and Sherwood Hall.

These big vehicles bring big concerns.

One of them is traffic related. Say a vehicle is parked on the side of the road, in order to pass it, a driver has to cross into oncoming traffic to get around it. Another example is if a driver is trying to turn into traffic and cannot see around a big vehicle.

There’s also public health and safety – Where does the waste end up?

“Another concern that’s been raised is the sewage and the garbage and other stuff that’s coming off of these recreational vehicles in particular,” said Salinas City Attorney Chris Callihan. “It blows around the streets, it gets into the city’s storm drain and it exposes the city to fines for polluted water, so we want to make sure we address that concern as well.”

Last year there was a huge illegal camping problem along Lapis Road just outside of Marina. At one point, some 60-70 RV’s and trailers were parked along the roadway. Since the Sheriff’s Office cleaned it up, it’s hard to say if all of those people relocated to Salinas.

Monterey County did open a safe parking program in Marina. As of May 18, of the 14 dedicated spaces, 11 permits have been handed out.

City leaders say if the ordinance passes, RV owners need to follow the rules or else.

“If you have a RV, you’ve got to behave,” McShane said. “You’ve got to use it legally, either park it at a designated approved overnight site or at an RV park in accordance with the law, or it will be cited or towed.”

If passed, the ordinance would go into effect 30 days from then.

Anyone who might be interested in discussing the ordinance should go to the city council meeting, which starts 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the City Council Rotunda.

ORIGINAL POST: The Salinas City Council is looking at possibly regulating over-sized parking on public streets and in public spaces.

The ordinance impacts vehicles over 22 feet in length or 7 feet in height, including RV’s, boats and trailers.

“An exception is made for commercial vehicles picking up or delivering items to homes or businesses and commercial vehicles being used by workers or for the delivery of materials used to complete construction work at homes or businesses,” said city officials.

Other exceptions include temporarily loading or unloading your car or boat between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

“The regulations are intended to prevent excessive parking of over-sized vehicles and recreational vehicles on public streets and other public spaces to increase roadway visibility, increase the safety of pedestrians and motorists using public roadways and other public spaces, and to further protect the public health and safety by eliminating the discharge of septic waste, wastewater, garbage, and trash into the City’s storm sewer and sanitary sewer.”

The ordinance will be discussed at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The meeting starts at 4 p.m. and will be held in the City Council Rotunda in front of City Hall.