The City Council on Tuesday will consider a new law that would prohibit RVs, trailers and other oversized vehicles from parking overnight on residential streets without a temporary permit.

The legislation was first introduced last fall after the public works director asked council to consider a blanket policy rather than a piecemeal approach to the issue since, for years, regulations were neighborhood-specific, causing some confusion and making enforcement difficult.

“We want people to use and enjoy their RVs, we just want to lessen the impact on many of our communities, especially in parking-impacted areas where it creates a lot of issues,” public works director Craig Beck said in a recent interview.

The new law would require the vehicle’s registered owner to obtain a permit from the city’s traffic and engineering division that would limit overnight parking to three consecutive days, or 72 hours, at a time. Officials are proposing an annual maximum of 20 permits per resident, though exceptions to the rule could be requested in writing with proof the owner uses the vehicle on a daily basis and does not have on-premise parking, according to a staff report. Staff is proposing a maximum time of six months for this type of permit.

Also included in the proposed ordinance is an exemption that would allow disabled persons who rely on their RV or oversized vehicle for transportation to obtain an oversized vehicle parking permit for their residence or workplace.

Impacts unknown

At this point, city officials say they are unsure how many people could be affected by the new policy, which could kick in as early as this fall. The city attorney’s office said the city’s traffic engineer, Eric Widstrand, may have city-specific data on the number of registered oversized vehicles, but he could not be reached this week because he is on vacation.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles does not readily have data on registered RVs or oversized vehicles by city, a spokesperson said on Wednesday, explaining that the data is compiled by county. Of the over 8 million vehicles registered in Los Angeles County, 300,306 are identified as trailers and another 165,275 are listed under miscellaneous vehicles. There was no further breakdown available.

Anecdotally, however, some storage facility owners say there are not enough spaces to accommodate the impending need for storage, which could put RV owners in a bind once the new law is implemented.

Sumer Temple of Don Temple Storage said the company’s waiting list for RV storage is four pages long.

“I understand a need for a consistent ordinance,” she said, “but my point is the council needs to look at the bigger picture. Where will these people go and what will they do with their RVs?”

The facility offers about 200 spaces near the Long Beach Airport, she said, though it stands to lose 79 of them due to a pending city agreement with Epson Inc., which plans to build its headquarters on a portion of property the company has leased from the city for nearly 50 years. Approximately 75 percent of people who rent those spaces live in Long Beach, she said.

Following council discussion in June, Sumer said she contacted a dozen storage facilities in Los Angeles and Orange counties and many said they were at capacity.

“Industry-wide we see a high demand for RV storage space, but there’s just not enough land,” she said.

Rates for oversized vehicle storage varies depending on size, but,on average, companies have quoted anywhere from $155 to $390 per month, a cost that some homeowners may not be prepared for.

Next steps

Deputy City Attorney Amy Webber, who helped draft the new legislation, said the city aims to give residents ample time to make accommodations as implementation may take several months.

If the ordinance is approved by council, she said, the city would still need to commission 180 signs at a cost of about $18,000. Those signs would then need to be posted at all city entrances before enforcement could begin, and before that, there would likely be a grace period, Webber said.

Another step in the process requires approval from the California Coastal Commission, which has oversight on any regulations that could be perceived as negatively impacting public access to coastal areas, and therefore, must be reviewed by the commission in a public hearing. The process to obtain a hearing is underway.

The City Council meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday, at 333 W. Ocean Blvd. The meetings are also live streamed on the city website and aired on Channel 3.