*NOT YET APPROVED*
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Ordinance No. ____
Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Prohibiting Parking of Detached Trailers and Other Non-Motorized Vehicles on Public Streets
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION 1. Findings and Declarations. The City Council finds and declares as follows:
A. Section 22507 of the California Vehicle Code authorizes the City to regulate the parking of vehicles on City streets.
B. The City has experienced a proliferation of detached trailers and other non-motorized vehicles parked on public streets and an associated increase in reports of public health, safety and aesthetic concerns.
C. Street parking is a limited resource within the City. Storage of detached trailers and other non-motorized vehicles on public streets consumes limited parking supply and impedes the use of the public streets for temporary parking.
D. Detached non-motorized vehicles that cannot be moved on a regular basis impede street sweeping and other clean-up operations and restrict views of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
E. Inhabited non-motorized vehicles can lead to unauthorized gray and black water disposal with the potential for illegal discharges of septic waste, wastewater, fuels, or trash from such vehicles into City streets, gutters, or storm drains due to their inability to move to access authorized disposal sites. This is particularly hazardous to the public health because Palo Alto’s storm drain system flows directly into the San Francisco Bay. The City has an obligation under federal, state, and regional regulations to keep pollutants out of the storm drain system.
F. Detached trailers and other non-motorized vehicles cannot be easily or quickly moved in an emergency and may therefore cause safety hazards.
SECTION 2. Section 10.44.020 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is amended to read as follows (additions underlined, deletions struck through):
10.44.020 Standing or parking, two a.m. to six a.m.
(a) No person shall, between the hours of two a.m. and six a.m. of any day, unless authorized by a hardship permit issued pursuant to Section 10.44.021 or a construction or maintenance permit issued pursuant to Section 10.40.045, park upon streets or alleys located within a residential zone or public facility zone any of the following vehicles:
(1) Oversized vehicles;
(2) Trailers;
(3) Camper shells;
(4) Tow trucks as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 615; (5) Special construction equipment as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 565. *NOT YET APPROVED*
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(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no signs or markings are necessary to give effect to the restrictions and prohibitions contained in this section. No person shall park or leave standing a non-motorized vehicle upon any public street or highway. (1) For the purposes of this subsection, “non-motorized vehicle” means any trailer, camp trailer, semitrailer or trailer coach as defined by the California Vehicle Code. “Non-motorized vehicle” does not include any bicycle, scooter, or micromobility device.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to a nonmotorized vehicle that is attached to a vehicle capable of moving the nonmotorized vehicle in a lawful manner upon the street, carries a hardship permit issued pursuant to Section 10.44.021 or a construction or maintenance permit issued pursuant to Section 10.40.045, is actively being loaded or unloaded, or is undergoing emergency repairs. (c) Where not inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution or other applicable law, vehicles parked in violation of this section are subject to tow.
SECTION 3. Severability. If any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this ordinance, or the application to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this Ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby declared to be severable.
SECTION 4. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective on the thirty-first day after the date of its adoption.
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*NOT YET APPROVED*
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SECTION 5. CEQA. The City Council finds and determines that this Ordinance is not a project within the meaning of section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the environment, either directly or ultimately. Alternatively, it is exempt from CEQA under CEQA Guidelines section 15308 as a regulatory action for the protection of the environment.
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTENTIONS:
ABSENT:
ATTEST:
____________________________ ____________________________ City Clerk Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
____________________________ ____________________________ Assistant City Attorney City Manager
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Chief Transportation Official
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Chief of Police