After a nearly five-year pause of its street sweeping enforcement efforts, Richmond plans to start ticketing cars in more neighborhoods if they block crews that are cleaning up the city’s roadways.
The city paused its enforcement of street sweeping parking laws in March 2020 due to the stay-at-home orders during the COVID pandemic.
Now, to help warn drivers of the fines they may face for violations, signs are being installed in neighborhoods citywide.
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Richmond’s Public Works Department shared that it’s posting street sweeping signs in parts of the city that have never had them and planning to replace older signs that may be worn out.
The council voted 5-0 to reallocate $564,131 from funds from Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), also known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, to pay for the remainder of the street sweeping signage project that would include a signage inventory and assessment process. (District 4 and 6 council members Claudia Jimenez and Soheila Bana were absent from the meeting.)
Last year, the council approved spending $550,000 to start the street sweeping sign project. Since then, according to Tawfic Halaby, deputy director of public works operations and maintenance, 1,330 signs have been made for 15 different neighborhoods: Bristlecone, Canyon Oaks, Carriage Hills South, Country Club Vista, Greenridge, Hasford Heights, Hilltop Bayview, Hilltop Green, Lenora, Marina Bay, Metro Richmore Village, Panhandle Annex, Quail Hill, Richmond Annex and Via Verdi.
Nearly all of the signs have been installed or are scheduled to be installed this week.
“We decided at the very least we need to have signs everywhere so that it’s clear to anyone parking on the streets what the street-sweeping regimen looks like,” Halaby said, adding that out of the city’s 500 miles of sidewalk, 85 miles did not have street sweeping signs.
Public works will now evaluate the condition of all signs around the city, something that hasn’t been done. Additionally, the second phase would evaluate street lights, traffic signals and poles.
Some residents are unhappy about the enforcement plans
A number of residents who attended the meeting, however, aren’t happy about the impending street sweeping enforcement.
David Wee, a Country Club Vista resident, challenged city officials to walk the neighborhoods and find trash in them.
“We wouldn’t be able to fill up a single trash bag. I’m being completely honest because I’ve done it,” Wee said. “Most of these are HOA-managed and they have cleaners come every two weeks.”
Another Country Club Vista resident, Sandy Jackson, said the city’s outreach about launching a street sweeping enforcement in the neighborhoods was a “sham” and that having to move cars would inconvenience older residents.
“Where are we supposed to move our cars? Four blocks away? My 80-year-old mother can’t move her car four blocks away,” he said.
According to District 3 council member Doria Robinson, who sponsored the initial item, the new enforcement effort is an attempt to make enforcement more equitable.
“Numerous people from my district brought forward this issue because in our district we have had signs for years. Other districts did not and therefore without street signs, as I understand it, it is not actually legal to enforce,” she said. “So folks in my district felt that was unfair because we could be enforced upon for street sweeping and other places that had street sweeping could not be enforced upon because there was no notice.”
Robinson also said that because of the enforcement inconsistencies the city was possibly opening itself up to a potential lawsuit for not enforcing the law equitably citywide.
Some members of local Richmond neighborhood councils expressed support during the meeting for enforcement to return.
“I feel sorry for all of the neighbors who are just now experiencing this but it is not right for one neighborhood to be able to bypass what all of the other neighborhoods have had to endure. Not to mention we do need our streets clean,” said Lori Hart, secretary of the Richmond Neighborhood Coordinating Council and vice president of the Parchester Village Neighborhood Council. “I appreciate the city council and appreciate the city for understanding that as a measure to be fair and equitable, what you do for one you do for all.”
District 1 council member Jamelia Brown suggested the city look into a text-alert program to let residents know when street sweeping is occurring. Robinson agreed and told city staff to look into that possibility.
“I don’t think the point of this program is to get a bunch of money. I think the point of the program is to clean the streets and equally enforce the rules across all neighborhoods and across all places where street sweeping is happening,” Robinson said.
Happy the city is again enforcing street sweeping. It’ only once a month, so I do see the reason for the “outrage” that some seem to feel at having to move their car across the street once a month. I keep mine in the driveway.
Very happy that street sweeping will be enforced. In my neighborhood, this has made parking an issue due to people not moving there cars for weeks or months due to the fact that there is no enforcement and trash has accumulated. This has encouraged people to store their cars on the streets and many times, it’s inoperable cars.
Not only is this a public issue, it’s also an environmental issue. Trash and debris end up blocking storm drainage as well as cars parked a long time end up leaking oils that goes into the drain when it rains.
Some neighborhoods might not have this issue, but in mine, it’s necessary to enforce street sweeping.
The noticed giving out said it would start in April, but what dates exactly would it start for commercial and neighborhood sweeping since it wasn’t mentioned in the article and the city hasn’t mentioned it.
You are lucky to have a driveway. Most of us renters do not. Have you ever thought about people less fortunate than yourself? I myself have paralysis, and because street sweeping in Richmond, CA does NOT exempt handicapped placards, I cannot move to Richmond. Most apartments, duplexes and cottages do not have driveways, or it’s just for one tenant. I live alone so no one to move my car. Sometimes I think the Disability Movement of the 1980’s didn’t happen. Certainly, when a city does not give a fig for its disabled residents, something is seriously wrong with it’s inhabitants and leaders. I will NEVER be able to explain the horror of paralysis. I wish people would take a moment to THINK about seriously disabled people.
The fact that in some neighborhoods the law was enforced and not in others is a kindergarten type argument. The real question is: was street cleaning needed? On my street it wasn’t. Instead of ticketing everyone whether cleaning was needed or not just so that some people will not feel unfairly treated is a bad solution. If people were ticketed unfairly, stop ticketing in these areas. This is a money making scam. People don’t need anymore of those!
I think street cleaning is a good idea. The irritating part of this whole thing is the signage. Are we not allowed to park our cars anywhere from 8-11am? It would be helpful to know what side to park or not park and when. My ticket was the only way I was able to know what day street cleaning is. I’ve lived in major cities my whole life and never came across signs that can be enforced across the entire city from 8-11am for citation. What am I missing here about parking enforcement?