The City Council on Tuesday, July 16, adopted a Municipal Code amendment changing the rules for curb markings.
The vote was 3 to 0. Council members Lisa Lavelle and Mary Schickling were absent this week.
This was a Consent Calendar item. Consent items are approved collectively, without council discussion, unless pulled for individual consideration. This item was not pulled.
Background
The council approved the introduction of the code amendment earlier this month by a vote of 4-1. Councilmember Mary Schickling cast the dissenting vote. (See “Curb marking rules to change,” at thecatalinaislander.com.)
“There’s no loading and unloading taking place between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m.,” Schickling said at the July 2 council meeting. Schickling proposed increasing the fines instead. At the time, Councilmember Michael Ponce argued that they were giving code enforcement the tools they needed.
At the time, Fire Chief Michael Alegria and Greenlaw argued in favor of the new rules.
“As currently established, yellow and white curbs become unrestricted from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., daily. The transition of the zones from restricted to unrestricted has, at times, created confusion for users,” according to the July 16 staff report by Management Analyst Devin Hart and CIP Director Robert Greenlaw.
“To eliminate confusion, City Staff propose amending the ordinance to extend the parking limitations in designated commercial and passenger loading/unloading zones (white and yellow curbs) to 24 hours,” Hart and Greenlaw wrote.
“City Staff believe the change in the AMC will allow for more consistent enforcement and less congestion in the designated unloading/loading areas,” Hart and Greenlaw wrote.
