ORDINANCE NO. 1763
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CHAPTERS 10.04 AND 10.28 OF TITLE 10 (VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC) OF THE SAN CLEMENTE MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO THE PARKING OF COMMERCIAL, RECREATIONAL, AND WIDE VEHICLES AND TRAILERS ON PUBLIC PROPERTY AND FINDING THE ORDINANCE NOT SUBJECT TO THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT WHEREAS, the City of San Clemente, California (“City”) is a municipal corporation, duly organized under the constitution and laws of the State of California; and WHEREAS, the City has received, and continues to receive, numerous complaints about the illegal parking of recreational and commercial vehicles, including but not limited to, parking on City streets, parking lots, and other areas of the public right-of-way, during times of restricted parking, and parking for a duration of time which exceeds the maximum parking time for such vehicles; and WHEREAS, the City has received, and continues to receive, numerous complaints regarding nuisances associated with the parking of recreational vehicles that impact, or have the potential to impact, the public health, welfare, and safety. Such nuisance issues relate to the dumping of “grey water” into the City’s storm drain system, the dumping of trash and debris, originating from within recreational vehicles, onto City streets, parking lots, and other areas of the public right-of-way; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to maintain, and increase, current levels of public access to the City’s beaches and coastal areas. For that effort, this ordinance is intended to improve the City’s parking enforcement capabilities to ensure parking for recreational vehicles is made available to all on a consistent, recurring basis and that parking of such vehicles is not abused in a manner that restrict others from utilizing it or otherwise cuts off access to the City’s beaches and coastal areas; and WHEREAS, additionally, improving enforcement of parking is anticipated to help address water-quality violations and other impacts to the cleanliness of the City’s streets and storm drain system through enforcement against long-term parking of recreational vehicles and the nuisances that they create and perpetuate; and WHEREAS, at its meeting of February 21, 2023, the City Council, in response to multiple complaints about the long-term parking of recreational and oversize vehicles, directed the Public Safety Committee to review the City’s existing parking regulations related to recreational vehicles and forward a recommendation to the City Council for opportunities to improve such regulations; and WHEREAS, at its meeting of February 28, 2023, the Public Safety Committee reviewed the City’s existing code pertaining to recreational vehicle parking, as well as ordinances from multiple nearby cities, and recommended that the City Council revise the San Clemente Municipal Code to better regulate recreational, commercial, and wide vehicles; and WHEREAS, City staff, in consultation with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department staff, prepared an ordinance based on the Public Safety Committee’s recommendations for the City Council’s consideration at a duly noticed public hearing on December 5, 2023; and WHEREAS, on December 5, 2023, the City Council held a duly notice public hearing and heard and considered the staff report and all public comment and testimony; and WHEREAS, all legal prerequisites to the adoption of this Ordinance have occurred.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of San Clemente does hereby ordain as follows:
Section 1. Incorporation of Recitals. The recitals above are true and correct and are hereby incorporated as findings as if fully set forth herein.
Section 2. CEQA. Based on substantial evidence in the record as a whole, the City Council finds that this Ordinance is not a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The Ordinance does not qualify as a project because it has no potential to result in either a direct, or reasonably foreseeable indirect, physical change in the environment. (State CEQA Guidelines, § 15378, subd. (a).) The language merely modifies existing restrictions and prohibitions, absent an applicable exception, regarding the parking of commercial, recreational, and oversize vehicles on public property. In the alternative, the City Council finds that the Ordinance falls within the “common sense” exemption set forth in State CEQA Guidelines section 15061, subdivision (b)(3), which exempts activity from CEQA where “it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” Here, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the Ordinance may have a significant effect on the environment because the Ordinance simply modifies existing restrictions and prohibitions regarding the parking of commercial, recreational, and oversize vehicles on public property; the Ordinance will not result in any development or in any new activity with the potential to impact the environment.
Section 3. Code Amendment. The following definitions, underlined, are hereby added to Section 10.04.010 – Definitions, of the San Clemente Municipal Code, with existing definitions to be renumbered and Section 10.04.010 to read in its entirety as follows:
A. .....Whenever any words or phrases used in this Title are not defined, but are defined in the Vehicle Code of the State of California and amendments thereto, such definitions shall apply.
B. .....The following words and phrases when used in this title shall, for the purpose of this title, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section.
1. “Bus” shall have the meaning set forth in California Vehicle Code Section 233.
2. “Camp trailer” shall have the meaning set forth in California Vehicle Code Section 242.
3. “Camper” shall have the meaning set forth in California Vehicle Code Section 243.
4. "Coach" means any motor bus, motor coach, trackless trolley, or passenger stage used as a common carrier of passengers.
5. "Commercial vehicle" means any vehicle meeting the definition of "Commercial Vehicle" in Section 260 of the California Vehicle Code, as that definition may be amended from time to time; provided, however, that for the purposes of this chapter no "Pick Up Truck," as that term is defined in California Vehicle Code Section 471, shall be considered a commercial vehicle unless: (1) goods, wares, or property of a commercial nature loaded thereon extend above the manufacturer's box; or (2) the standard bed of the vehicle has been replaced with a utility or stake bed over eighty (80) inches in width; or (3) the vehicle has been modified to include a rack extending over the length of the vehicle's bed which currently has goods or wares of a commercial nature, with the exception of ladders that do not extend beyond the horizontal limits of the vehicle, stored thereon.
6. "Council" means the Council of the City of San Clemente.
7. "Curb" means the lateral boundary of the roadway, whether such curb is marked by curbing construction or not so marked; the word "curb" as used in this title shall not include the line dividing the roadway of a street from parking strips in the center of a street, nor from tracts or rights-of-way of public utility companies.
8. "Divisional island" means a raised island located in the roadway and separating opposing or conflicting streams of traffic.
9. Holidays. Within the meaning of this title, "holidays" means the first day of January, the twelfth day of February, the twenty-second day of February, the thirtieth day of May, the fourth day of July, the first Monday in September, the ninth day of September, the twelfth day of October, the eleventh day of November, the twenty-fifth day of December, and Thanksgiving Day. If the first day of January, twelfth day of February, twenty-second day of February, the thirtieth day of May, the fourth day of July, the ninth day of September, the twelfth day of October, the eleventh day of November, or the twenty-fifth day of December falls on a Sunday, the Monday following is a holiday.
10. “House car” shall have the meaning set forth in California Vehicle Code Section 362.
11. "Loading zone" means the space adjacent to a curb reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles during the loading or unloading of passengers or materials.
12. “Recreational vehicle (RV)” shall have the meaning set forth in California Health and Safety Code Section 18010.
13. Official Time Standard. Whenever certain hours are named in this title, they shall mean standard time or daylight saving time, as may be in current use in this City.
14. "Parkway" means that portion of a street other than a roadway or a sidewalk.
15. "Parking meter" means a mechanical device installed within or upon the curb or sidewalk area immediately adjacent to a parking space, for the purpose of controlling the period of time occupancy of such parking meter space by any vehicle.
16. "Passenger loading zone" means the space adjacent to a curb reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles during the loading or unloading of passengers.
17. "Pedestrian" means any person afoot.
18. "Police officer" means every officer of the Police Department of this City or any officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations.
19. "Stop," when required, means complete cessation of movement.
20. “Trailer” shall have the meaning set forth in California Vehicle Code Section 630.
21. “Trailer bus” shall have the meaning set forth in California Vehicle Code Section 636.
22. “Trailer coach” shall have the meaning set forth in California Vehicle Code Section 635.
23. "Vehicle Code" means the vehicle code of the State of California.
24. “Wide vehicle” shall mean and refer to any vehicle that has a width that is in excess of eighty (80) inches (excluding side view mirrors).
Section 4. Code Amendment. Section 10.28.230 of the San Clemente Municipal Code is hereby deleted and replaced in its entirety and shall read as follows:
Section 10.28.230 – Commercial, Wide Vehicle and Trailer Parking Restricted A. Wide Vehicles. The following regulations shall apply to all wide vehicles:
1. Between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., no person shall park any wide vehicle, other than to make deliveries or repairs of an emergency nature on either the wide vehicle itself or to the adjacent properties, on any of the following described street locations:
a. Any public street or cul-de-sac, which has a curb width of forty-four (44) feet or less. b. Any street on which a traffic lane line has been painted where the distance between the painted lane line or centerline and the nearest part of the wide vehicle is eleven (11) feet or less.
B. Commercial Vehicles. The following regulations shall apply to all commercial vehicles:
1. No person shall park or leave stopped or standing any commercial vehicle between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. on any City street, designated publicly used parking lots or alley except for the purpose of actively loading, unloading, or servicing the property immediately adjacent to the commercial vehicle.
2. No person shall park a commercial vehicle on a City street, designated publicly used parking lot or alley for over two (2) hours between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. This Subsection shall not preclude the parking of one (1) commercial vehicle used for business and parked immediately adjacent to the property to which the commercial vehicle is registered, provided the size of the commercial vehicle does not violate any other regulations contained within this code, or the California Vehicle Code, regulating the size of vehicles or the locations or times where commercial vehicles are prohibited from parking.
3. Subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall not apply to any of the following:
a. Any commercial vehicle then currently involved in the construction, reconstruction, maintenance, or repair of any street, designated publicly used parking lot or alley upon which the commercial vehicle is parked or any development occurring directly in front of that property; or b. Any commercial vehicle employed by any governmental entity or public utility which is used for urgent response purposes including, but not limited to, ambulances and utility repair vehicles.
C. Recreational Vehicles (RV), Buses, Camp Trailers, Trailers, Campers, House Cars, Trailer Buses, and Trailer Coaches. The following regulations shall apply to RVs, Buses, Camp Trailers, Trailers, Campers, House Cars, Trailer Buses, and Trailer Coaches. It is the intent of this Subsection that these vehicles shall not be parked on City streets, or designated publicly used parking lots except as provided herein.
1. No trailer shall be left unattached to any vehicle on any City street, designated publicly used parking lot or alley for any period of time.
2. No person shall park, stop, or leave standing any of these vehicles, regardless of width, on any City street, designated publicly used parking lot, or alley, in the City for more than four (4) hours, and may only so park provided the size of the vehicle does not violate any other regulations contained within this code, or the California Vehicle Code, regulating the size of vehicles or the locations and times where vehicles are prohibited from parking, such as, but not limited to, overnight parking prohibitions for parking areas in the public right-of-way dedicated by resolution of the City Council to Max Berg Plaza Park. Parking regulations for these types of vehicles at the parking lot located adjacent to the alley on the City’s Municipal Golf Course property (Assessor’s Parcel Number 060-010-08) are contained in Section 10.28.230.C.3.
For purposes of this section, a vehicle shall be considered to have remained parked unless, during any 4-hour period, said vehicle has been moved at least one-half (1/2) mile from the position it previously occupied. The following are exempt from this section:
a. For the purpose of loading or unloading immediately adjacent to the residential (non-commercial) property for which the vehicle, as defined in this Title, is registered, for a period not to exceed twenty-four (24) hours, or for a period not to exceed seventy-two (72) hours if a City-issued parking permit is obtained pursuant to Subsection D of this Section; or b. If a vehicle, as defined in this Title, is parked immediately adjacent to the property to which it is registered and is used for daily business activities, as such activities are permitted and licensed in compliance with Title 5 - Business Licenses And Regulations, of this code, for a period not to exceed seventy-two (72) hours, if a City-issued parking permit is obtained, pursuant to Subsection D of this Section. c. If the RV, bus, or trailer is parked immediately adjacent to the residential property which its occupants are visiting, for a period not to exceed seventy-two (72) hours, if a City-issued parking permit is obtained by the owner of the immediately adjacent residential property, pursuant to Subsection D of this Section.
3. No person shall park, stop, or leave standing any of these vehicles, regardless of width, on the parking lot located on the western portion of the City’s Municipal Golf Course property (Assessor’s Parcel Number 060-010-08) adjacent to the alley between East Avenida San Gabriel and East Avenida Magdalena between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., unless a City-issued parking permit is obtained by the owner of an adjacent residential property. Between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., no person shall park, stop, or leave standing any of these vehicles, regardless of width, for more than four (4) hours, provided the size of the vehicle does not violate any other regulations contained within this code, or the California Vehicle Code, regulating the size of vehicles or the locations and times where vehicles are prohibited from parking.
D. Parking Permits. The following regulations shall apply to all City-issued parking permits required by this Section:
1. Where a City-issued parking permit is required above, a maximum of four (4), seventy-two (72) hour parking permit extensions may be issued per residential address per calendar year. For the purposes of this subsection, a “seventy-two (72) hour parking permit extension” shall mean one (1) thirty-six (36) hour parking extension for the loading of the RV and one (1) thirty-six (36) hour parking extension for the unloading of the RV. Only round-trip extensions may be issued, and the commencement of the unloading period must occur no sooner than forty-eight (48) hours after termination of the loading period. Longer running permits may be issued for designated publicly used parking lots at the request of the parking lot owner or manager, and at the discretion of the City’s Chief of Police Services.
2. A parking permit/extension will be issued free of charge and may be obtained from the City of San Clemente Police Services.
3. The following information must be provided by the property owner: the date and time the on-street parking permit is needed; the name and address of the user and property owner requesting the parking extension; the make, model and license plate number; and the location where the vehicle will be parked.
4. If the parking extension has been obtained, the vehicle may be parked on a City street at the location, and during the period of time, authorized by the parking extension.
5. At the expiration of the initial twenty-four (24) hour or any thirty-six (36) hour period provided by a City-issued parking permit, or at the end of any authorized parking permit extension, the vehicle shall be moved from any and all City streets and designated publicly used parking lots for the ensuing seventy-two (72) hour period.
6. No two (2) consecutive parking permits/extensions shall be granted within a six (6) day period.
7. City parking permits shall not be issued for unattached boat or supply trailers.
Section 5. Code Amendment. Section 10.28.150 - Parking trailers, etc., on streets, of the San Clemente Municipal Code is hereby deleted in its entirety.
Section 6. Publication. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance by the City Council and cause it, or a summary of it, to be published once within 15 days of adoption in a newspaper of general circulation printed and published within the City of San Clemente, and shall post a certified copy of this ordinance, including the vote for and against the same, in the Office of the City Clerk in accordance with California Government Code, section 36933.
Section 7. Records. The documents and materials associated with this ordinance that constitute the record of proceedings on which the City Council’s findings and determinations are based are located at City Hall, 910 Calle Negocio, San Clemente, CA 92673.
Section 8. Severability. If any provision of this ordinance or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, such invalidity has no effect on the other provisions or applications of the ordinance that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this extent, the provisions of this ordinance are severable. The City Council declares that it would have adopted this ordinance irrespective of the invalidity of any portion thereof.
Section 9. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall become effective 30 days after its adoption.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this ____ day of _______________, 2024.
ATTEST:
_______________________________ ___________________________ City Clerk of the City of San Mayor of the City of San
Clemente, California Clemente, California
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE )
I, LAURA CAMPAGNOLO, City Clerk of the City of San Clemente, California, hereby certify that Ordinance No. 1763 having been regularly introduced at the meeting of _______________, 2024, was again introduced, the reading in full thereof unanimously waived, and duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the _____ day of ____, 2024, and said ordinance was adopted by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of San Clemente, California, this _____ day of ____________, 2024. __________________________
CITY CLERK of the City of
San Clemente, California
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_______________________________
Elizabeth A. Mitchell, CITY ATTORNEY
Ordinance No. 1763 Page 9