October 20, 2026
Public Works
DATE: October 20, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM: Janney Lockman, AICP, Associate Transportation
Planner
Daniel Chavarria, PE, Director of Public Works / City
Engineer
SUBJECT: On-Street Accessible Parking Program Update
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The update on the On-Street Accessible Parking Program does not require an immediate appropriation or expenditure of funds.
Future program implementation would require additional Public Works staff time for application intake, engineering review, field verification, system tracking, applicant notifications, appeals, renewals, removal review, annual reporting, and coordination with Operations and capital improvement programs. Based on the City’s recent average of approximately 21 requests per year, City staff estimates that routine program administration would require approximately 56 to 221 City staff hours annually, or approximately 7.5 to 29.5 staff workdays, excluding the onetime staff effort required to establish the online application and tracking system.
The City’s current practice for approved blue curb spaces generally includes blue curb paint and accessible parking signage. Where additional improvements are needed to make a location fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG), capital costs may vary significantly by location.
Based on 2026 City-wide Concrete Program cost information, blue curb paint and signage are estimated to cost approximately $3,500 per location. Additional curb ramp, sidewalk, or roadway grading improvements would increase the total cost at a given AGENDA
REPORT
October 20, 2026
location. These improvements may be completed through the City-wide Concrete Program, paving program, ADA Transition Plan implementation, or other capital improvement projects as funding becomes available.
If the On-Street Accessible Parking Program were to include an application fee or appeal fee, City staff would return to the City Council separately for consideration following the required notice and public hearing
PREVIOUS
COUNCIL ACTION:
April 1, 2025
STATEMENT OF
THE ISSUE:
The City of Richmond currently addresses requests for on-street accessible parking spaces, also known as “Blue Curb” parking spaces, through existing Public Works practices; however, the City does not have a comprehensive, standardized program governing how requests are evaluated, approved, installed, tracked, renewed, or removed. To improve consistency,
transparency, and administration of these requests, Public Works staff, with assistance from Fehr & Peers, developed a comprehensive On-Street Accessible Parking Program that establishes standardized eligibility, site selection, design, notification, appeal, tracking, and reporting procedures.
RECOMMENDED
ACTION:
RECEIVE an update on the draft On-Street Accessible Parking Program, and REVIEW, COMMENT, and PROVIDE
DIRECTION to staff regarding the proposed policy, potential application and appeal fees, staff time, and capital program considerations – Public Works Department (Janney Lockman 510-307-8097/Daniel Chavarria 510-620-5478). This item was continued from the September 22, 2026, and October 6,
2026, meetings.
DISCUSSION:
The City of Richmond currently responds to requests for on-street accessible parking spaces intended to improve access for people with disabilities to residences and other properties. Depending on site conditions, these spaces may involve blue curb painting and signage, as well as supporting accessibility improvements such as curb ramps, sidewalk improvements, and other path-of-travel modifications. Under Richmond Municipal Code Section 14.48.020, the Public Works Director is authorized to place blue curb markings, which “indicate parking limited exclusively to vehicles of handicapped persons.” While the City has addressed these requests through existing Public Works practices, it has not had a comprehensive written policy establishing consistent application procedures, evaluation criteria, design standards, applicant notifications, appeals, renewals, maintenance, removal, tracking, and reporting. The City also lacks
October 20, 2026
standardized design criteria for determining what accessibility improvements may be needed at a particular location to support compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.
In November 2024, Public Works staff issued a request for proposals to the City’s oncall traffic engineering firms to assist in developing standards and a formal process for requests for on-street accessible parking. Fehr & Peers was selected based on its experience developing similar policies for comparable cities and its staff expertise in the ADA and Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG). On April 1, 2025, the City Council adopted a resolution allocating $120,000 from the Measure J Fund to support the development of on-street accessible parking standards and a formal review process.
Since that time, Fehr & Peers has worked with Public Works, Engineering, and Operations staff to review existing conditions, evaluate best practices from peer agencies, and develop a revised application and evaluation framework. This work included a memorandum on existing conditions, a literature review of best practices, and a proposed Application Process Framework establishing a workflow – submission, review, decision and notification, implementation, appeals, closeout, and renewal, maintenance, and removal – along with a block-perimeter evaluation approach for identifying the most feasible and accessible parking space on a given block (Attachment 1). Building on that framework, Fehr & Peers prepared a Draft On-Street Accessible Parking Program (Program) for City consideration (Attachment 2). The policy elements and program details are also described in the attached Technical Appendix (Attachment 3).
ANALYSIS:
The proposed Program establishes a clear, consistent, and equitable process for requesting, evaluating, and installing on-street accessible parking spaces within the public right-of-way, consistent with California Vehicle Code Sections 22511.7 and 22511.8, the ADA, and PROWAG. Key elements of the proposed Program include:
Block-Perimeter Evaluation. Rather than evaluating only the specific location requested, City staff will evaluate the full block perimeter surrounding a request to identify the location that provides the greatest accessibility benefit. The installed space may not always be directly in front of the applicant’s address and will not be reserved exclusively for the applicant but will be sited to best serve people with disabilities in that area.
Application Workflow. Applications may be submitted through the City’s online portal, Intuitive Municipal Solutions (iMS), with hard-copy submission available for community members who are unable to submit electronically. Application steps include: Submission, Review, Decision and Notification, Implementation, Appeals (if applicable), Closeout, Renewal, Maintenance, and Removal. All steps can be
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tracked in the City’s centralized online portal. Defined follow-up timelines are incorporated to support timely responses.
Design Standards. The Program establishes design standards for on-street accessible parking spaces, including space dimensions, access aisles where applicable, blue curb paint, signage, clearance from obstructions, and an accessible path of travel to the adjacent sidewalk. Where full compliance cannot be achieved due to existing physical constraints, the Engineering Division will document the constraint and, where feasible, identify an alternative location within the block perimeter that meets applicable standards. In some locations, City staff may provide blue curb and signage in the short term with the expectation that full ADA compliance will be completed through the implementation of the ADA Transition Plan or other capital improvement projects.
Applicant Fee. The Program preserves the City Council’s discretion to consider whether to establish an application fee. If directed, City staff will return with a proposed fee resolution following required notice and public hearing. The fee analysis identifies potential fee scenarios, including $50–$69 for application intake only and $69–$90 for application plus brief field verification, and notes that many peer cities do not charge fees for on-street accessible parking requests (Attachment 4). Any recommended fee would also apply for Appeal requests. Appeals. Applicants whose requests are denied may submit a written appeal within 60 calendar days. The appeal review may consider updated infrastructure, changed curbside conditions, and an expanded study area of up to two additional blocks beyond the original block perimeter.
Removal. The Program establishes a defined process, including resident notice and a 14-day appeal period, for removing a space when the demonstrated need no longer exists. Existing blue-curb parking spaces will be evaluated over time as requests arise or as other work occurs in the public right-of-way. Relationship to the ADA Transition Plan. The Program is designed to work in tandem with the City’s ADA Transition Plan. A blue curb request can itself identify needed infrastructure upgrades in locations where an accessible path of travel is currently lacking. Locations where blue curb paint and signage are installed can be prioritized for curb ramp and sidewalk improvements as funding is available. Over time, this Program creates a self-reinforcing cycle in which the Program helps advance the City’s broader ADA Transition Plan goals, in addition to the on-street accessible parking benefit itself.
Administration, Data Tracking, and Reporting. Responsibilities are clearly divided among the Public Works Engineering Division (review and determinations), and the Public Works Operations Division (implementation, and closeout), with support from the IT Department for adding the application to iMS, and appeals reviewed by the City Engineer. The Public Works Department will include information on Program
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activity, including applications received, approval/denial rates, processing times, and appeal outcomes, to support transparency and accountability, as part of an annual public report. The annual report will also include renewed and withdrawn applications and a map or database of active on-street accessible parking spaces City-wide.
Consistent with the goals identified in the April 2025 staff report, adoption of this Program proactively positions the City to meet current ADA and PROWAG standards and to adapt more readily to future changes in on-street accessibility parking requirements, while giving residents, and particularly people with disabilities and their families, a clear and predictable process for requesting on-street accessible parking.
Staff Time and Capital Program Considerations
While Public Works staff currently and historically have reviewed requests for on-street accessible parking spaces and installed new spaces with blue paint and signage, the updated Program codifies a number of new elements including renewal, notification to nearby properties if a space is proposed for removal, and appeals to decisions made that will result in additional workload for existing City staff. Depending on the degree of accessibility upgrades needed for an on-street accessible parking space to comply with the ADA and PROWAG, additional improvements beyond typical practice of painting blue curb and signage may be necessary over the long term to make a space truly accessible. Accessibility improvements would need to be completed through other City programs, like the Citywide Concrete Program and the implementation of the ADA Transition Plan.
Between 2019-2025, Public Works has received an average of 21 requests for on-street accessible parking spaces per year. On average, 60 percent of these applications were approved in the years when this data was readily available, 2019-2022. These numbers are not expected to change significantly with this new program and are used to develop the assumptions below. Program administration is expected to take 56 – 221 hours of staff time per year (approximately 7.5 to 29.5 days) across the Public Works Engineering Division staff.
Planning-level estimates were developed to illustrate the approximate City staff time associated with individual program tasks and different types of applications (Tables 1 and 2). Not every request will require every task. For example, all requests require intake and initial review, while only denied requests may result in appeals, and only approved spaces will require renewal or potential removal review in later years. The estimates exclude one-time City staff time needed to configure the online application, iMS tracking, and public-facing program materials.
Table 1: City Staff Time Estimates – Engineering Division & City Engineer Program Activity Estimated
Staff Time
Applies To Planning Assumption
Application intake and
completeness review
0.5 – 1 hour
per request
All applications
received
Approximately 21 requests
per year based on recent
historical average
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Program Activity Estimated
Staff Time
Applies To Planning Assumption
Technical review and
field verification
3 – 6 hours per
eligible request
Requests that pass
initial screening
Includes desk review, field
measurements, checklist
completion, recommended
location, and Operations
work order
Appeal review 2 – 4 hours per
appeal
Denied requests that
are appealed
Includes review of original
application, field checklist,
and additional coordination
as needed
Renewal review 2 – 3 hours per
renewal
Approved spaces
beginning two years
after installation
Begins in program year 2;
actual volume depends on
number of approved spaces
Removal review, notice,
and work order
1 – 3 hours per
removal review
Spaces proposed for
removal
2 per year
Annual program
reporting
4 – 8 hours per
year
Annual program
reporting
Includes application
outcomes, processing times,
appeals, renewals,
removals, and active-space
map/database
Capital project
coordination/construction
management
5 – 7 hours per
location
Only locations requiring
additional ADA-related
capital improvements
Excludes design and
construction labor; applies
only when improvements are
advanced through other
programs
Table 2: Annual City Staff Time Estimates
Annual Workload
Scenario
Assumption Estimated Annual
Staff Time
(Hours/Days)
Base Program
administration
21 requests; intake for all; technical/field
review for eligible requests; annual
reporting
56 – 111 hours/7.5 – 15
days
With appeals and
removals
Base administration plus assumed
appeals and 2 removal requests
58 – 119* hours/8 – 16 days
Program with renewals Base administration, appeals, 2 removal requests, and renewals
84 – 158** hours/11 – 21
days
With capital coordination All tasks above, plus coordination for locations requiring ADA-related capital
improvements
124 – 221 hours/16.5 – 29.5
days
*Appeal workload will depend on the number of denials appealed and is estimated at 2-4 hours per appeal.
**Assumes all spaces approved in Program Year 1 will be renewed in 2 years. For example, if a space is approved in 2026, it is assumed that the same space will be renewed in 2028.
Planning-level capital cost estimates were developed to illustrate the types of improvements that may be associated with a new on-street accessible parking space
October 20, 2026
(Table 3). Blue curb paint and on-street accessible parking signage are the only improvements anticipated for every approved space. Other improvements, such as curb ramps, sidewalk repair, or roadway grading, will depend on site conditions and may be completed later through the City-wide Concrete Program, paving program, ADA Transition Plan implementation, or another capital improvement project. These estimates are not intended to represent an immediate commitment to complete all potential improvements at every location.
Table 3: Capital Cost Estimates Per New On-Street Accessible Parking Space Capital Cost Scenario Scope Estimated Cost Per
Location
Basic implementation Blue curb paint and onstreet accessible parking signage only
$3,500
Moderate accessibility
improvement
Blue curb paint/signage
plus curb ramp and/or
sidewalk repair
Approximately $22,350-
$38,550
Major accessibility
improvement
Blue curb paint/signage
plus curb ramp, sidewalk
repair, and roadway
grading
Up to $238,550
Source: Estimates are based on the 2026 Citywide Concrete Program Costs CONCLUSION:
The proposed On-Street Accessible Parking Program provides the City with a standardized, transparent, legally consistent framework for evaluating and installing blue curb spaces, replacing the existing process with documented criteria, defined departmental roles, and clear applicant communication at each step. City staff will return to the City Council for policy adoption and, if directed by the City Council, separate consideration of any application fee, appeal fee, fee waiver criteria, or fee reduction criteria following required notice and public hearing.
SYNERGISTIC POLICIES:
The On-Street Accessible Parking Program supports implementation of the City’s ADA Transition Plan by identifying locations where on-street accessible parking requests may also indicate a need for curb ramp, sidewalk, or path-of-travel improvements. The Policy is also designed to be coordinated with the Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan, Local Roadway Safety Plan, Curb Ramp Upgrade Program, Development Review, roadway and complete streets projects, and major maintenance projects when those efforts affect curbside conditions or on-street accessible parking needs.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Background Documents
October 20, 2026
Attachment 2 – On-Street Accessible Parking Program Policy Attachment 3 – On-Street Parking Program Technical Appendix Attachment 4 – Blue Curb Fee Considerations