BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2586|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2586
Author: Gatto (D)
Amended: 8/19/16 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE TRANS. & HOUSING COMMITTEE: 9-1, 6/28/16
AYES: Beall, Cannella, Bates, Gaines, Galgiani, Leyva,
Mendoza, Roth, Wieckowski
NOES: McGuire
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 66-11, 6/2/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Parking
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill makes changes to several existing law
provisions relating to parking restrictions.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/19/16 provide that local
authorities have until January 1, 2020, to ensure that parking
is opened back up upon conclusion of street-sweeping; add "and
other maintenance activities" to the references to parking
restrictions related to street-sweeping; limit parking at
inoperable meters to two hours and provide that a violation of
this provision is subject to civil penalties; and delete the
provision prohibiting a local authority, when contracting with a
private entity to enforce parking regulations, to increase any
violation fines in order to cover the cost of the contracted
activity.
ANALYSIS:
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Existing law:
1)Allows local authorities, by ordinance or resolution, to
prohibit or restrict parking vehicles on designated streets or
highways, or portions thereof, for the purpose of street
sweeping. The days and hours of the restrictions must be
clearly posted, as specified.
2)Allows a vehicle to park, for up to the posted time limit, in
any parking space that is regulated by an inoperable parking
meter or parking payment center. Prohibits a local authority
from prohibiting or restricting parking in spaces regulated by
inoperable parking meters or payment centers. This provision
sunsets on January 1, 2017.
This bill:
1)Requires, by January 1, 2020, that if a local authority
prohibits or restricts parking in designated areas for the
purpose of street sweeping and other maintenance activites, it
must ensure that the designated areas are promptly made
available for parking, regardless of posted hours, as soon as
street sweeping has concluded.
2)Repeals the 2017 sunset on the provision prohibiting local
authorities from prohibiting or restricting parking in spaces
regulated by inoperable meters, making this provision
permanent. Provides that a driver may park at an inoperable
meter for up to two hours, and provides that a violation is
subject to civil penalties and is neither an infraction nor a
public offense.
3)Prohibits a local authority, when contracting with a private
entity to enforce parking regulations, from providing any
monetary or other incentive, such as the promise of a future
contract, for the issuance of a specified or higher number of
violation notices.
Comments
1)Purpose. The author states that unfortunately, budget
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deficits have led many local governments to run their public
parking enforcement programs as an additional source of
revenue rather than as a mechanism for enforcing sensible
parking restrictions. In 2014, parking tickets were
responsible for approximately $165 million of Los Angeles'
city budget and almost $130 million of San Francisco's city
budget. According to the author, this profit-driven
enforcement system has a disproportionate impact on low- to
moderate-income residents who live in densely populated areas.
The author states that this bill will address some troubling
local parking policies, such as restricting parking long after
street sweeping is complete and incentivizing private parties
who contract with cities to enforce parking restrictions more
harshly than originally intended.
2)Street sweeping. This bill requires local authorities to
allow parking to resume on a street as soon as street sweeping
or other maintenance activities are completed, in an effort to
free up available parking spaces that would otherwise be
unusable for blocks of time regardless of whether or not
street sweeping or other maintenance activities have
concluded. It might be difficult, however, for a driver to
know exactly when that has occurred.
3)Broken parking meters. SB 1388 (DeSaulnier, Chapter 70,
Statutes of 2012) established a general rule that a vehicle
may park at a broken parking meter up to the posted time
limit, without penalty. SB 1388 included a provision allowing
local jurisdictions to adopt different rules; as a result,
some began banning parking at inoperable meters using posted
signs to notify motorists, as required by SB 1388. To address
this loophole, AB 61 (Gatto, Chapter 71, Statutes of 2013)
prohibited local jurisdictions from ticketing at broken
meters. This bill removes the sunset on that provision.
4)Private parking enforcement. In the face of limited manpower,
many local jurisdictions have turned to privatization of
parking enforcement operations. This bill prohibits a local
authority from providing certain incentives when contracting
out for parking enforcement. The author states that these
practices incentivize companies to practice overly harsh or
unfair enforcement, resulting in costly fines for what could
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be perceived as relatively minor offenses.
5)Opposition concerns. Writing in opposition to this bill, the
League of California Cities states that it is currently
surveying its members about implementation of AB 61, which
allowed parking at broken parking meters. The League states
that initial responses indicate a significant increase in
meter vandalism in the two years since the bill's
implementation. Also writing in opposition to this bill, the
California Public Parking Association states that issues such
as parking during posted street sweeping hours and contracting
with private parking enforcement are issues that should be
gauged at the local level by local governing bodies.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/21/16)
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/21/16)
California Public Parking Association
City of Agoura Hills
City of Culver City
City of Downey
City of Highland
City of La Mirada
City of Lake Forest
City of Lakewood
City of Livermore
City of Norwalk
City of Ontario
City of Sacramento
City of San Carlos
City of West Covina
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City of West Hollywood
Culver City Chamber of Commerce
League of California Cities
Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Town of Danville
Town of Tiburon
West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
Westside Council of Chambers of Commerce
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 66-11, 6/2/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Bigelow, Bonta,
Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez,
Chiu, Chu, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Linder,
Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez,
Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Baker, Bonilla, Cooley, Cooper, Gordon, Irwin, Levine,
Lopez, Mullin, Quirk, Salas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Bloom, Nazarian
Prepared by:Erin Riches / T. & H. / (916) 651-4121
8/22/16 23:05:47
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