An updated ordinance that will prohibit oversized vehicles from parking on Long Beach streets advanced last night as the city council approved the first reading of the policy that will become law after its next reading.
The effort to create the ban started last fall when Third District Councilwoman Suzie Price brought the item to the floor in an effort to improve safety on public streets by limiting the amount of large vehicles that inhibit the line of sight for motorists and pedestrians.
According to the ordinance, an oversized vehicle will hereby be defined as any vehicle that exceeds 85 inches in height (about 7 feet tall) or is bigger than 80 inches wide or 22 feet long. Residents will be able to apply for permits to park oversized vehicles in front of their homes for up to 72 hours with the number of permits granted to any one household being limited to 20 permits annually—a total of 60 days a year.
The update to the ordinance involves a provision for people with disabilities who use oversized vehicles as their primary mode of transportation. The proposed ordinance will now allow for these people to apply for a permit to allow them to park oversized vehicles adjacent to their property given that they can provide proof to the city traffic engineer that they are permanent residents of Long Beach, have a valid disabled placard and that their disability necessitates the vehicle in question to be used as their primary vehicle.
If granted, those permits will allow those persons to park their oversized vehicles not only at their homes, but also at facilities where they receive services and at their place of employment.
A previously discussed provision to require oversized vehicles to park behind a fence has also been removed from the ordinance language.
The proposed ordinance will also be submitted to the California Coastal Commission for an exemption from state environmental laws that all policies affecting the coastal zone are held to account.