Agenda Item
City Traffic Commission
Item #: 4.6. 4/9/2025 File #: 25-0131
TO: Chair and Members of the City Traffic Commission
THRU: Larry Tay, City Traffic Engineer
FROM: Gabrielle Hayes, Principal Civil Engineer
1. SUBJECT
Request for permit parking on both sides of E. Avenida Palmar from west City limits to N. Thora Street and on both sides of N. Sandpiper Circle.
2. SUMMARY
This request is to implement permit parking on the aforementioned streets, which are adjacent to Permit Parking Area AA.
3. RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Approve the implementation of permit parking on the following streets:
a. Both sides of E. Avenida Palmar from west City limits to N. Thora Street. b. Both sides of N. Sandpiper Circle.
2. Forward to the City Council for final action.
4. FISCAL IMPACT
None. Implementation involves minimal staff time and minimal expenditures that have already been approved in the City’s operating budget.
5. STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Goal 5: Improve Infrastructure, Mobility, and Technology
6. DISCUSSION AND BACKGROUND
Background
In December 2023, the City Council approved the establishment of Permit Parking Area AA for the streets of E. Ryals Lane and 200 block of N. Renee Street (as depicted on the Area Map attached).
Since implementation of permit parking in Area AA, residents on neighboring streets have observed an increase in demand for on-street parking on their frontages. Staff received two separate requests to initiate the process for permit parking on streets adjacent to existing Permit Parking Area AA.
The first request was from a property owner on N. Sandpiper Circle asking for the cul-de-sac to be incorporated into Permit Parking Area AA. The second request was from a property owner on N.
Thora Street asking for three streets to be studied: the 300 block of N. Renee Street, E. Avenida City of Orange Printed on 4/2/2025Page 1 of 3
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57 Item #: 4.6. 4/9/2025 File #: 25-0131
Palmar from west City limits to N. Thora Street, and N. Thora Street.
In accordance with the City’sNeighborhood Permit Parking Program (NPPP), staff performed an initial screening of the study area to determine the following:
1. Whether each street is eligible to be considered for permit parking; and
2. If so, does said street lie within a City-defined permit parking opportunity area with streamlined procedures.
After evaluating the four streets requested for study, staff determined the 300 block of N. Renee Street was ineligible for permit parking for several reasons. The west side of N. Renee Street provides curbside parking along a residential property located within unincorporated County of Orange. Residents who live outside the City of Orange, such as this property, are ineligible to participate in the permit parking program. Additionally, the only site that takes direct access off of N.
Renee Street is 349 N. Renee Street, a residential property that also operates as a wedding venue under a Conditional Use Permit with the City. The NPPP is intended to serve residential streets and the commercial nature of this site precludes this street from consideration for permit parking.
The remaining three streets of N. Sandpiper Circle, E. Avenida Palmar, and N. Thora Street were identified as eligible for permit parking and outside of a City-defined permit parking opportunity area.
As such, minimum levels of parking occupancy and property owner support must be met to recommend permit parking. Both are discussed below.
Parking Occupancy Study
Staff mapped and counted the number of legal parking spaces for each of the streets in the study area. The proponents provided staff with the days and times when parking demand in the neighborhood was believed to be at its highest. Staff then conducted the parking observations during those report hours. Per the City’sNPPP, a street parking occupancy rate of 75% is required to qualify for permit parking. E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle were the only streets to exceed the 75% threshold, with an average parking occupancy of 76% and 75%, respectively.
N. Thora Street (57%) failed to meet the 75% parking occupancy threshold.
Petition Results
Because the parking occupancy exceeded the minimum 75% threshold only on E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle, petitions were circulated for the residents on each street (Thora Street was not included). The petition letter and a list of permit parking advantages and disadvantages were provided by the Traffic Division to each of the resident property owners and absentee property owners on the candidate streets. The table below shows the results of the neighborhood polling.
Affected Streets Households In Favor Households OpposedUnreturned E. Avenida Palmar 15 88% 0 0% 2 12%
N. Sandpiper Circle 6 75% 0 0% 2 25%
The final results of the petition process indicate that both Avenida Palmar and Sandpiper Circle meet the required minimum 75% of property owners in favor of the permit parking program.
Findings
Through the parking occupancy studies, staff have documented a consistently high demand for on- City of Orange Printed on 4/2/2025Page 2 of 3
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58 Item #: 4.6. 4/9/2025 File #: 25-0131
Through the parking occupancy studies, staff have documented a consistently high demand for on- street parking on E. Avenida Palmar, from west City limits to N. Thora Street, and N. Sandpiper Circle. Since the level of demand for parking exceeds the minimum requirements under the City’s NPPP, permit parking is recommended on the aforementioned streets.
The following should be kept in mind:
1. Under the NPPP, property owners on any adjacent street experiencing spillover may request to initiate permit parking within a year without having to pay the application fee. Parking occupancy, petition thresholds, and other requirements in effect at the time would still apply.
2. Any vehicle parked in a designated parking-by-permit area without a permit is subject to citation. Parking permits do not supersede the street sweeping restrictions in the neighborhood.
7. ATTACHMENTS
· Letter of Request
· Notification Letter
· Area Map
· Site Sketch & Petition Area Map
City of Orange Printed on 4/2/2025Page 3 of 3
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59 1
Maria Prado Flores
From: Clifford Clinton <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, January 6, 2025 3:16 PM
To: Maria Prado Flores
Subject: Fwd: Sandpiper Circle - permit parking request Here is the email I sent to Dave Allenbach in September.
Thanks
Cliff Clinton
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Clifford Clinton <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Sep 23, 2024, 9:28 AM
Subject: Sandpiper Circle - permit parking request
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: Leah Clinton ICE-1 <[email protected]>
Dear. Mr Allenbach,
I am writing to request that the North Sandpiper Circle cul de sac off of East Ryals Lane be added to the permit required parking that is all around the cul de sac on Ryals and the N. Renee Street cul de sac. There are 8 houses on our cul de sac, with only about 8 available curb side parking spots. Typically 5-7 of these spots are filled by residents in the evenings, which means that if visitors were to come there may not be parking available on the cul de sac. Due to the permit parking requirement they could not park on Ryals either, which really means you have restricted visitors to our homes. This means that if someone were to have an event such as a birthday party or wedding (we have 6 kids and our next neighbor has 7 kids) there would be nowhere for the guests to park without risk of getting parking tickets. And we were not offered any parking permits to park on Ryals because we are not included in the permit zone.
I understand that you said regular 75% parking occupancy is required for permit parking, but I feel that the 75% of parking requirement should not have been limited to the cul de sac alone. It should have been included in the percentage of parking available on Ryals extending out of the cul de sac on your initial study. I do not feel that marking the N. Sandpiper Circle as its own entity was a fair measure of the parking capacity.
Please reconsider permit parking for the North Sandpiper Circle cul de sac.
Sincerely,
Clifford Clinton, MD, and Leah Clinton
253 N. Sandpiper Circle
Orange, CA 92869
310-569-4564 - Cliff
310-963-2768 - Leah
[email protected]
60 61
62 63
Legend:
Subject Area
City of Orange Boundaries
COUNTY OF ORANGE
CITY OF ORANGE
Existing Permit Parking Area AA (2023)
64 COUNTY OF ORANGE
CITY OF ORANGE
N SANDPIPER
CIR
E RYALS LN
Legend:
Existing Permit Parking
Area AA (2023)
Proposed Addition to
Permit Parking Area AA
City of Orange Boundaries
Petition Area
SITE SKETCH & PETITION AREA MAP
RENEE ST
65