City of Mountain View issued the following announcement on Dec. 9
After adopting local election results at the Tuesday, Dec. 8 meeting, the City Council took action on implementing the Measure C ballot measure. The City of Mountain View ordinance restricts the parking of oversized vehicles which exceed 22 feet in length, or 7 feet in width, or 7 feet in height, including boats, large trucks, and recreational vehicles (RVs), on narrow streets to address traffic safety concerns. Mountain View voters passed Measure C by 56.6% in the November 2020 election.
The voter-approved ordinance was deemed adopted upon the Council's certification of the election results for Measure C. Ordinances approved through the referendum process become effective 10 days following certification which, in this case, is Friday, Dec. 18. However, the ordinance requires signage to be installed on streets subject to the regulations before enforcement may take place. The signage process includes manufacturing of the signs, engineering to determine sign placement, and actual installation.
The earliest that sign installation can begin is April 2021, and citywide sign installation is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
Narrow Streets and Signage
The City plans to install signs on the 444 streets, or 1,035 blocks, which qualify as narrow by being 40 feet wide or less. Of the City's 525 total public streets, 83% qualify as narrow. View the Narrow Streets Map.
Public Works Department staff estimate that approximately 2,600 signs will be required.
Installation Process
The City will install the signs by sectioning the city into six major neighborhood areas, similar to what is already used for the Council Neighborhood Committee meetings.
The signage installation would begin with the neighborhood area of Monta Loma/Farley/Rock Street and proceed clockwise to the Moffett/Whisman Road, Grant Road/Sylvan Park, Springer/Cuesta/Phyllis, Central Neighborhoods and end with the San Antonio/Rengstorff/Del Medio neighborhood area.
Community Outreach
The implementation schedule allows time to provide advanced notification of scheduled sign installations to the community and any oversized vehicles parked on the streets. The ordinance applies to any oversized vehicle including those being used for living purposes, such as RVs. The latest count from July 2020 recorded 191 RVs parked on city streets and another 54 RVs participating in Mountain View's safe parking lots in August.
In addition to providing citywide communications to neighborhoods and a variety of interested partners and stakeholders, the City will also provide advance notifications to unstably housed individuals living in oversized vehicles in both English and Spanish prior to any enforcement to ensure people are aware of the ordinance. People will also receive information on how to connect to social services and how to utilize the Safe Parking Program Lots and other upcoming housing opportunities, including Project Homekey. This rapid housing development in Mountain View will be ready for full occupancy as transitional housing with 100 doors/124 beds for both seniors and families by early 2021.
Enforcement of Narrow Streets Ordinance
With a primary focus on safety, the Mountain View Police Department would continue with its complaint-driven enforcement for parking-related concerns. The Police Department's approach begins with education and seeking voluntary compliance. The Police Department will continue to proactively address any issues where hazardous waste are associated with vehicles parked on city streets. The City can only begin enforcement when signage is installed on the narrow street.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Police have issued less than 10 tickets to oversized vehicle owners and no occupied vehicles have been towed. In most cases, oversized vehicle owners have complied with officer's requests to move.
Sign Installation Funding
The total estimated cost to install the signs to restrict oversized vehicle parking on narrow streets is $980,000.
Funding would come from the General Fund-Transportation Reserve ($485,000) and the Construction/Conveyance Tax Fund ($485,000). In addition, the Shoreline Regional Park Community Fund ($10,000) would be used to pay for sign installations in North Bayshore.
City staff will provide an update to the Council and the community on the progress of the programs and services being offered to homeless and unstably housed individuals in the second quarter of 2021.
Nov. 17, 2020 news release
Dec. 8, 2020 Council Report
Original source can be found here.
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