O2354City Council Meeting: 04-26-2011 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2354 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE
SECTIONS 3.12.860 and 3.12.880 RELATED TO
LARGE VEHICLE AND TRAILER PARKING RESTRICTIONS
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica consists of just eight square miles of
coastal land, which is the home of 90,000 residents, the job site of 300,000 workers,
and a destination for as many as 500,000 visitors on weekends and holidays; and
WHEREAS, for decades, the City has regulated overnight parking of large
vehicles and trailers on public streets and alleys in residential, commercial, and
industrial districts; and
WHEREAS, the defined dimensions of large vehicles and the specified hours
of restricted overnight parking in residential districts are slightly different from those
applicable in commercial and industrial districts; and
WHEREAS, these minor variations in overnight parking restrictions do not
promote public welfare; instead, they create confusion, hinder compliance, and impair
enforcement efforts; and
WHEREAS, standardizing restrictions on overnight parking would promote
compliance and facilitate more efficient and effective notice and enforcement, and will
thereby promote public welfare; and
WHEREAS, adopting a uniform definition for the size of large vehicles would
provide clarity regarding the prohibited vehicles and would restrict overnight parking of
any large vehicle, includ'mg 18-wheel trucks, panel trucks, most delivery trucks, and
most campers and recreational vehicles ("RVs"); and
WHEREAS, the City's unusual density necessitates special efforts to ensure
adequate emergency response time and to preserve the free and safe flow of
pedestrian and vehicular traffic; and
WHEREAS, the parking of unhitched trailers upon public streets and alleys
impedes traffic and parking circulation, particularly in case of emergencies that would
require immediate removal of an unhitched trailer; and
WHEREAS, the parking of unhitched trailers upon public streets and alleys
harms public safety and welfare, as such trailers' inherent inability to move under their
own power hampers emergency response efforts and obstructs access to the City's
already congested roads in times of emergency; and
WHEREAS, restricting the parking of unhitched trailers would improve traffic and
parking circulation, and will thereby promote public safety and welfare; and
WHEREAS, the parking of unhitched trailers on public streets produces
undesirable visual blight, attracts graffiti and vandalism, damages the City's economic
vitality, and harms the general welfare; and
WHEREAS, in order to preserve the quality of residents' lives and protect the
City's visitor industry, which is essential to the City's economic vitality, the City must
safeguard the safety, visual appeal, and charm of its streets and public spaces.
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 3.12.860 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is amended
to read as follows:
3.12.860 Overnight parking of trailers and large vehicles.
Between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. on any public street or alley in the
City no person shall park any hitched or unhitched trailer of any size, or any
vehicle of which any part of the vehicle, together with all fixtures, accessories or
property with the exception of single post radio antennas, measures more than
eight (8) feet in width, or eight (8) feet in height, or twenty (20) feet in length,
unless such person shall have a permit for such trailer or vehicle.
SECTION 2. Section 3.12.880 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
3.12.880 Parking of trailers.
(a) No person shall park any trailer on any public street or alley in the City,
unless the trailer, while otherwise lawfully parked, is attached to a vehicle
capable of moving the trailer in a normal manner upon the street or alley.
(b) This Section shall not apply to trailers that are:
(1) in the process of being loaded or unloaded; or
(2) authorized to park at a particular location pursuant to aCity-issued permit.
SECTION 3. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto, inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
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inconsistencies and no further, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 4. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any
court of any competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would
have passed this Ordinance, and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion
of the Ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause this ordinance, or a summary thereof, to
be published once in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This
Ordinance shall be effective 30 days from its adoption and once signs have been
erected giving adequate notice thereof.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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MA HA J S MOU E
City ttorn
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Approved and adopted this 26th day of April, 2011.
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Richard Bloom, Mayor
State of California )
County of Los Angeles ) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Beth Sanchez, Acting City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify
that the foregoing Ordinance No. 2354 {CCS) had its introduction on April 12,
2011, and was adopted at fhe Santa Monica City Council meeting held on April
26, 2011, by the following vote:
Ayes: Council members: Holbrook, McKeown, O'Connor, O'Day, Shriver
Mayor Pro Tem Davis, Mayor Bloom
Noes: Council members: None
Abstain: Councii members: None
Absent: Council members: None
A summary of Ordinance No. 2354 {CCS) was duly published pursuant to
California Government Code Section 40806.
ATTEST:
Beth nchez, Acti Cit Clerk