Agenda Report
Fullerton City Council
MEETING DATE: AUGUST 1, 2023
TO: CITY COUNCIL / SUCCESSOR AGENCY
SUBMITTED BY: ERIC LEVITT, CITY MANAGER
PREPARED BY: RICHARD D. JONES, CITY ATTORNEY
KIMBERLY HALL BARLOW, ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY
KRISTA MACNEVIN JEE, DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY
SUBJECT: FULLERTON MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 8.46 AMENDMENTS TO REVISE RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARKING PROVISIONS
SUMMARY
Proposed ordinances to amend and modify Fullerton Municipal Code Chapter 8.46 Recreational Vehicle (“RV”) Parking Provisions to make Code compliant with matters determined by a Court and in keeping with the City’s intent as to the scope and meaning of the parking regulations, as well as the City’s actual enforcement and application of the FMC.
RECOMMENDATION
Make findings that the ordinances are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, in that it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the ordinances may have a significant effect on the environment (14 California Code of Regulations, Section 15061 (b)(3)), as they make only minor variations to time restrictions for parking of certain vehicles and primarily clarify previously existing definitions, meaning and enforcement application.
Read Urgency Ordinance No. XXXX by title only, waive further reading of the ordinance, make urgency findings and adopt ordinance.
ORDINANCE NO XXXX - AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING FULLERTON MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 8.46 RELATING TO RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARKING, STOPPING AND STANDING Introduce Ordinance No. XXXX for first reading by title only and waiving further reading of the ordinance.
ORDINANCE NO XXXX - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING FULLERTON MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 8.46 RELATING TO RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARKING, STOPPING AND STANDING
CITY MANAGER REMARKS
The City Manager recommends approval of the proposed ordinances.
PRIORITY POLICY STATEMENT
This item matches the following Priority Policy Statement:
Public Safety.
FISCAL IMPACT
No fiscal impact with this decision.
DISCUSSION
Background
Staff proposes an urgency ordinance to immediately implement changes for public health, welfare and safety, as well as a non-urgency duplicate of the same code amendments.
The City adopted an RV Ordinance in 2020 to add FMC Chapter 8.46. The City did not immediately begin enforcement of provisions because it needed to install signage and implement permitting and ticketing programs. The Police Department gave public notices and warnings for several months before issuing any citations.
City Council adopted an ordinance modifying the definition of “Recreational Vehicles” in Chapter 8.46 in 2021. The revisions clarified that the City intended the RV parking prohibition to apply to vehicles designed, physically modified and/or equipped for human habitation and not intended to apply to passenger vehicles that merely contained items used for human habitation or any regular passenger vehicles in which individuals lived. The City has not enforced Chapter 8.46 parking prohibitions against unmodified passenger vehicles.
The City adopted code provisions to protect the public health, welfare and safety. Long-term parking of recreational vehicles within the City had increased, causing safety issues, including illegal discharges, decreased visibility, obstructions, etc. In addition, the amount of available street parking on City streets had substantially decreased. The City has had an overnight parking prohibition throughout the City for all vehicles, for many years.
The Police Department began Chapter 8.46 enforcement, beginning with only warnings, in about August 2021. The Police Department adopted enforcement guidance at that time to strictly limit how and by whom the City would issue citations under the RV Ordinance. Specifically, the Department instructed officers to give a reasonable time for emergency repairs to RVs that had to to park due to the vehicle being inoperative and a reasonable time to give RVs parked in business or commercial areas when the operator frequented businesses within the City. The Department generally required warnings prior to issuing citations and based towing RVs on repeat violations and long-term parking without vehicle movement. The City has not enforced Chapter 8.46 parking against any recreational vehicles, or any other vehicles, stopped in traffic, stopped at stop lights, stopped at stop signs or otherwise obeying traffic signals, officer directions or following the regular movement and flow of traffic on City streets and roadways. This is in direct keeping with the California Vehicle Code (“CVC”), which the City has incorporated generally into FMC Chapter 8 (Traffic) (Section 8.04.010, Definitions).
Impact of Legal Action
In a pending action against the City challenging the provisions of Chapter 8.46, the Orange County Superior Court has recently ordered that the City temporarily not enforce Chapter 8.46 while the action remains pending based on the Court finding that the City’s definition of “Recreational Vehicle” is vague as it applies to vehicles “equipped” for human habitation and “travel use.” The City did not intend the code provisions, and has not applied, to regular passenger vehicles or any other vehicles that merely contain the means for human habitation or used for human habitation and only to vehicles designed or physically modified so as to be equipped for human habitation. Therefore, the proposed ordinances amend the code in line with this original intent and actual enforcement. The proposed ordinances also make clear additional provisions that the City always intended, and part of actual enforcement, as the RV parking regulations, namely the allowance of reasonable parking within the City for emergency repairs or the patronage of businesses or services and no prohibition of stopping in compliance with the flow of traffic or traffic control devices, in accordance with standard provisions of the FMC and the CVC.
Staff proposes City Council adopt both an urgency and non-urgency ordinance of the FMC amendments. City Council would introduce the non-urgency version for first reading and hold a second reading and adoption at a subsequent meeting. In substance, the proposed ordinances make the same changes to the City Code.
The proposed ordinances clarify the City’s original intent as to the scope and application of Chapter 8.46 to recreational vehicles and modify the definition of “recreational vehicles” in line with the recent Court order finding the FMC definition vague. The proposed amendments to the Code also clarify the City’s original intent and actual enforcement, allowing for reasonable parking for emergency repairs and frequenting businesses or services in the City, as well as not prohibiting the stopping of recreational vehicles in compliance with traffic control devices or officer directions or in the regular flow of traffic, in line with the FMC and CVC. Both ordinances make these same changes to the FMC, one as an urgency ordinance that would take effect immediately upon adoption and a non-urgency version, which City Council will introduce for first reading and then second reading and adoption at a subsequent meeting.
Attachments:
Attachment 1 – Urgency Ordinance No. XXXX
Attachment 2 – Ordinance No. XXXX
Fullerton Municipal Code Chapter 8.46 (RV) Amendments
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