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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-07-2012 ac smith ph3Grimes, Maev e From:Grimes, Maev e Sent Monday, November 05, 2012 4 :49 P M To:Goodwin, Heather Subject Agenda Item #PH3 : OVER SIZED VEHICLE AND UNATTACHED TRAILER PARKIN G REGULATION S Heather , Please distribute this Agenda Correspondence for item PH3 . macye kenneOy glzime s City Cler k City Of San LUIS OBISp O 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 9340 1 phone : (805) 781-7102 email : mgrimes@slocity .org From :Carolyn [mailto :ke6hng©att.netl Sent Monday, November 05, 2012 4 :16 PM To : Marx, Jan ; Ashbaugh, John ; Carter, Andrew; Smith, Kathy; Carpenter, Da n Cc: Lichtig, Katie Subject:RE : Agenda Item #PH3 : OVER SIZED VEHICLE AND UNATTACHED TRAILER PARKING REGULATION S Dear Mayor Marx and Council Members : After reading staff's report, it was very surprising and disappointing to discover that no t a single SLO City neighborhood group had been given the opportunity to participate i n the stakeholder process regarding this issue . While RQN was mentioned as being a stakeholder, they, in fact, were not given an opportunity to have input prior to Staff's recommendations for this ordinance .It also appears that none of the organized neighborhoods in our city, such as Alta Vista Neighborhood, Laguna Neighbors , Neighborhoods North of Foothill, San Luis Drive Association, or Old Town Neighborhoo d Association, were included either . According to Staff's report, the REG Propert y Management group was the only group consulted that is even remotely connected t o neighborhoods . This group represents clients who may not even live in SLO and, a s reported, most of their clients are not concerned about this problem because they hav e homeowner's associations with strict CC & Rs . Since this is a very important quality o f life and safety issue in many neighborhoods, I believe the discussion of this matte r should be continued to allow for meaningful input from neighborhood groups a s mentioned above . I attended the workshop on September n th at the Library .It was a very confusing an d frustrating workshop because, unfortunately, this issue was being intertwined with th e situation of homeless individuals living and sleeping in their vehicles on our city streets . These are two very different problems and should be treated as such .For many years , 1 residents have been pleading for a solution to the problem of the storage of unoccupie d motor homes, unattached recreational vehicles such as boats, jet skis, and dun e buggies, commercial trailers and trucks, and other large vehicles parked in ou r residential streets . We need to find a way to resolve this problem separately from th e homeless parking issues . Some of my concerns with the recommendations in Staf f's report are as follows : 1 . The proposed ordinance will allow an owner of an RV or trailer to park his vehicl e within 75 feet of his home (which could be across the street, down the street, or i n front of your home) and play another vehicular shell game (as our 72 hou r ordinance has caused for years) by moving the vehicle in and out of his drivewa y to accommodate the 3 out of 7 night cycle recommended by staff . Not only doe s this defeat the purpose of the ordinance but it will most likely create neighbo r animus . 2 . The recommendation that the parking prohibition begin at midnight and end a t 5 :00 a .m . is illogical . (a)Since staff reports that large vehicles parked in residential streets create traffi c safety problems, it's difficult to comprehend how allowing these large vehicles t o be parked on city streets all day, every day, and several nights a week will d o anything to prevent those problems . In fact, this ordinance will most likel y exacerbate the current problems . (b)Further, the survey questions regarding the hours of the prohibition wer e ambiguous and there was a lot of confusion at the workshop about those question s referring to timing . Many respondents couldn't even answer some of the question s because the choices weren't coordinated properly . This confusion could make th e survey results questionable . (c)Finally, realistically, who is going to stay awake until midnight or wake u p before 5 :00 a .m ., so they can phone the police to report a violation of thi s ordinance? Violations will just not be reported . However, if a violation is reported , violators can simply work around the ordinance by pulling the vehicle into thei r driveway at night and return it to the street during the day, resulting in anothe r vehicular shell game and certainly not a solution to the problem . A 24 hou r prohibition would eliminate any type of shell game from being played, allowing a more realistic enforcement . 3 . Since our police resources are already stretched thin with overnight crime, it i s doubtful that we have sufficient police personnel to not only issue the violation s but to follow up with the complaints to verify compliance . If there is no follow up , there is basically no real enforcement . 4 . I also believe that after the third violation, the vehicle should be towed, rathe r than allowing five violations before towing . If an offender doesn't comply afte r three violations, he is intentionally defying the ordinance and should have hi s vehicle towed . The permit process suggested by staff that allows for overnight visits from guest s several times a year appears appropriate, as long as staff will be carefully monitorin g these permits to make sure no one exceeds their allotted number . 2 Ihave been a motor home owner for 35 years, traveling throughout the U .S ., Canada , and Mexico . I understand the need to have a place to store one's RV but I certainl y would never consider storing my 27' motor home on the street in my neighborhood . There are plenty of RV storage facilities in our City with reasonable rates and there is n o excuse for any RV owner to use our neighborhood streets as an RV storage lot . I strongly believe our city needs a clear and strict ordinance regulating the storage o f RV's and other large vehicles on our streets . Passing an ordinance that is complicated , discourages complaints, and hinders enforcement will not help to resolve this problem . Thank you for your attention to this issue . Carolyn Smit h San Luis Obispo, CA 3