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09-14-2011 - Minutes TCM] CITY OF ORANGE CITY TRAFFIC COMMISSION Minutes of a Regular Meeting: September 14, 2011 I. OPENING A. Flag Pledge B. Roll Call Present - Commissioners: J. Beil, N. Lall, W. King, C. Vaughan Absent - Commissioners: M. Lebeau Present - Staff: A. Farahani, W. Winthers, D. Allenbach, Sgt. J. Bird, C. Perez C. Approval of Minutes • August 10, 2011 ACTION: Approved as published. MOTION: N. Lall SECOND: C. Vaughan AYES: J. Beil, N. Lall, C. Vaughan ABSTAIN: W. King NOES: None II. ORAL PRESENTATIONS None this month. III. CONSENT CALENDAR None this month. City of rang Public Works Department Tape #CrC -31.o6 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 744 - 5536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. B September 2011 [N:/Traffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] Printed On Recycled Paper C Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 2 IV. CONSIDERATION ITEMS 1. Request for the installation of 2 -Hour time limit parking on the north side of LaVeta Ave. easterly of Tustin St., in proximity to the Santiago Creek Bike Trail access point. Richard Hess 308 S. Craig Dr. Orange CA 92869 Oral presentation is based on the written staff report; please refer to your copy. Amir Farahani, City Traffic Engineer — I would like to advise you that Marie Knight, Community Services Director is here, she is the project manager for the trail and can answer any questions you have for the trail. Chairman Beil opened the public hearing for discussion of this item. Tim Love, 1801 E. LaVeta Ave. #122 — We have quite a few people here from 1801 and the mobile home park and I agree with staffs comments and I would just like to add a couple. There is plenty of parking available if you use initiative to go find it. You can dive directly across Tustin St. into the Rock Creek residential area and park there; and when the trail creek is finished there will be plenty of parking at Yorba St. and Chapman Ave. Also if you wanted to there is a little dirt area at the end of the LaVeta Bridge at the entrance to the mobile home park that the Flood Control fenced off, it's empty, it's not used for anything. You could put temporary parking in there. It would greatly inconvenience all of our residents to have that parking taken away. We lost a bunch of parking places when they put the creek trail through. Tyson Rose, 1801 E. LaVeta Ave. — I've been a resident here for the last 30 days and parking is a big problem in the area. We live in an isolated area and there seems to be a 1,000 residents in that small area and I have to park every night down Tustin St. on the other side in a housing tract and I have to walk to my truck every day. This would be a big inconvenience to us. Till Saunders, 1801 E. LaVeta Ave. #207 — There is a lot of parking available at the Rio Center across the street and it may be beneficial to them to put in some type of metered parking on that side, and it would open up the parking on LaVeta for us. I end up moving my car a couple of blocks down the road when I have visitors so they may use my parking space. ` City of Tape #CTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 744 -5536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department September 2011 [N:/Praffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] 0 Printed On Recycled Paper x Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 3 Lauren Andrews, 1081 E. LaVeta Ave. #218 —1 have a 5 yr. little girl and you can imagine the inconvenience of coming home late at night and looking for a parking space. I have babysitter's that come, guests, so losing that parking would really inhibit our ability to live a comfortable lifestyle in our apartment that we pay rent for every month. We should have a right of having available parking right outside our homes just as other residents do. If you were to do something like this at the local parks such as Pitcher Park where parking is a huge problem as well the residents there would have a cow. If you decide you have to put metered parking in I would ask that you do a limited number of spaces because not many residents drive to this location to use the trail, most of them live nearby and ride their bicycles there so if you would limit the metered parking to just 2 spaces during the day and keep it free at night that would work. Iuan Duran, 1801 E. LaVeta Ave #111 — It's a big inconvenience and coming home at night there is limited parking. I really don't think very many people access the trail at our location. If you put in meters then you should give us permits to have the right to park there even if it's limited parking. Chairman Beil — Just a point of clarification, there seems to be talk of a proposal to put in parking meters at this location. We don't have that proposal on the table do we? Dave Allenbach, Transportation Analyst — No sir. What is being considered is the installation of green curb for maybe 1 -2 vehicles that is posted with a 2 -Hour parking limit and a begin and end signs. Time limit parking is only enforceable during business hours Monday through Saturday. Chairman Beil closed the public hearing and returned the item to the Commission for final discussion and a motion. Vice Chairman Lall — Has there been any consideration for parking needs that were taken into consideration? Marie Knight, Community Services Director — Yes. We have actually even though Tustin and LaVeta begin our current project, once open that is an activity that will start in the City of Santa Ana by the Discovery Science Center and come all the way through Orange and eventually to Santiago Oaks Park. There are multiple locations along the trail for staging that we have planned so once this leg is opened there will be staging and parking available at Yorba Park, Hart ` City of Tape #C-31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 744 -5536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department B September 2011 [N:/Traffic/CTC /2011 Minutes] a Printed On Recycled Paper ❑fit Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 PQ. 4 Park and Grijalva Park alone, not to mention some of the Santa Ana areas where they are staging, but also the north trail that we are completing along the Cannon area. So from our perspective, Community Services, we're not in support of this application, we believe there is plenty of other parking. We know this is a heavily used area by the neighborhood that was one of our considerations in the planning of the trail. The apartment owner did work with us as well with the building of the trail, and they did lose a few spots in the back, so I would hate to see us take any more spaces away from this group. We have a lot of people wanting to use the trail already and most of them are pedestrians using the trail close to their homes, the staging areas are mostly for bicycle groups and that's why they would need the larger parking areas. Chairman Beil — I agree with the staff recommendation, I don't see this as a traffic safety or traffic issue, and really I think the key thing is that there is no substance behind the claim of use of trail at this point. There is no data to support that. Wayne Winthers, Asst. City Attorney — I just want to clarify something so the audience doesn't go away with the wrong impression. I heard some comments that they are here because this is a staff generated idea to take away the parking. The reason this item is here is because a resident sent in a letter saying they thought it was a good idea to put in 2 -Hour parking so people could come and use the trail. Because they sent in that letter it had to be investigated by Traffic Engineering and be presented to the Traffic Commission to either accept his idea or to deny the idea. That is why you received the notices, and it's why you're here today, and that is the decision the Commission will have to make. Commissioner Beil — Thank you, that is a good clarification as we were getting the same perception that something seemed odd. Commissioner Vaughan — I am extremely familiar with item we're taking about and all the access points currently available, and in all my years of biking and walking in this area I've never seen anything that makes that particular access more unique that would outweigh the consideration of the residents who live in the area. It would be much more convenient for someone who needed to be on the trail to go to Hart Park or Cambridge and have that access. I would like to deny the request. ` City of Tape ACTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 7445536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department September 2011 [N:/Traffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] Printed On Recycled Paper Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 5 ACTION: MOTION: SECOND: AYES: Deny the requested installation of "2- Hour" time limit parking. C. Vaughan J. Beil Unanimous 2. Request for the implementation of a Neighborhood Parking Permit Program on Quincy Ave. and Monroe Ave. between California St. and Lincoln St., and the cul- de-sac streets of Gardner St. and Greengrove St. Alyce Watanabe 1327 E. Monroe Ave. Orange CA 92867 Oral presentation is based on the written staff report, please refer to your copy. Chairman Beil opened the public hearing for the following discussion: Dani Smith, 1303 E. Monroe Ave. — I've lived here 9 years. Just this weekend I had to call the Police to come out to be able to get out of my driveway because they park so close to my driveway I would hit their bumper. I shouldn't have to feel this way, I live there, and all the cop said was that they could issue a ticket. For me that's very irritating if I can't get out of my driveway. I have a big Tahoe and when I'm backing up I have to go over the curb to get out on the street. This happened once before and it was a large work truck parked there at that time. Chairman Beil — Do you feel this is overflow from the densely overcrowded areas up towards Lincoln St.? Dani Smith, 1303 E. Monroe Ave — Oh yeah. It's all along Albertson's. I'm towards the end of the street and it's pretty bad. I'm closer to the school. Alyce Atanabe, 1327 E. Monroe Ave — I have a letter I want to read (copy attached). Iackie Barragan, 1328 E. Monroe Ave — The parking issue is out of hand, I've lived at this home 13 years and I've seen this situation progressively get worse and worse and I do believe it is due to the overpopulation of cars coming from the apartments. We have been victims of the trash cans being moved, no parking for our own visitors, not being able to back out of our driveway, being issued citations by the trash contractor for putting the cans too close to the cars. They move them up onto our lawn if they need to make room. I'm in favor of the permit parking. City of Tape ACTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 744 -5536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department September 2011 [N:/Traffic/CTC /2011 Minutes] 0 Printed On Recycled Paper Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 6 Mark Dambrosno, 1320 E. Monroe Ave — There is nothing new to add. It is the apartment overflow traffic parking here and I observe where people are walking when they park their cars. Daphne lennings, 1311 E. Monroe Ave — I've lived here for 30 years and I originally moved here pleased with the idea of being in a mixed neighborhood of apartments and single - family homes. Over the last 5 -7 years the parking situation has become intolerable indicating to me that perhaps too many people are living in those apartments than should be. Since we've filed the petition it seems a young man who goes to Chapman University has bought a house in the area and is using it as a fraternity house, so I believe the Sunday Dana was walking about it was many frat boys coming to a party at that house. I know the area around Chapman University has a significant problem with that, so I'm thinking that by passing this we will nip that problem in the bud also. Yulisa Cardona, 1346 E. Monroe Ave — I have only lived here a year and a half and last week my trash wasn't picked up because someone moved the cans to the sidewalk so they could park on the street. That bothers me and my driveway was under construction so I'm not currently able to park there so every day when I come home I have to park 6 houses away. I wish that we could get this petition approved. Revna Sotelo, 990 N. Lincoln St . — I'm in favor of the permit parking even though it's not for my street but my mom is concerned that once you've approved this for those streets they will come over to our street. There is overcrowding on our street as well. We've had the same problem with the trash cans, they break our sprinklers, they throw trash all over, we've also had a hit & run with our cars being hit. We've lived here 12 years and it's getting worse all the time. We want to see if we can get parking permits also for just in front of our property on Lincoln St. We'd like to know what we can do to be included on this. Chairman Beil - You said your location is 990 -992 N. Lincoln St. Wade Marlow, 1412 E. Quincy Ave - We're in favor of the permit parking. My comments are pretty much the same as everyone else. We often have to pick up trash from the gutter and our lawns. City of Tape #CTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 744 -5536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department B September 2011 [N:/rraffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] 1 0 Printed on Recycled Paper X Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 7 Mike Tunstall, 1428 E. Adams Ave — I live on the corner of Lincoln St. and Adams Ave. I use Access to get myself to work every day and there are a lot of times I have to go out into the street because the bus can't get to my house because there are cars lining the street. They often park in front of the handicap ramp and I can't get down there either. There have been numerous times we have almost been hit trying to get out onto the street. I don't feel it is my obligation to provide supplemental parking for the apartment complex; I'm not getting any of their rents. We can't have guests over; I've got 2 kids that need to park too. I don't think its right to put this burden on us. Chairman Beil closed the public hearing and returned the item to the Commission for final discussion and a motion. Chairman Beil — I think the last 2 speakers live outside the area where the permit parking is proposed. Dave Allenbach, Transportation Analyst — Yes that is correct, they were notified because they reside within 300 feet of the area. Chairman Beil — If somebody wanted to amend at a later date to expand this area is that possible? Dave Allenbach, Transportation Analyst — What we try to do is we made our best guess here as to the most severely impacted area which were namely Monroe and Quincy. We are unaware that sections of Adams Ave. or Lincoln St. north of Adams Ave. for example are being impacted as well. If the residents of those areas want to consider having permits they would have to do the same as Ms. Watanabe, they would send a letter of request along with the $525 application fee and give us some indication of the size of the area. Then we would prepare a petition they would circulate within their neighborhood. Commissioner Vaughan — There were two residents who marked they were opposed to the permits on the petition, I was wondering if they are here today or if any of their neighbors had spoken with them. I'm curious as to their opposition. 1072 Greengrove and 1093 Greengrove. A Watanabe — One lady didn't want to be bothered, she didn't think it affected her and there was a corner house that is down by the school who also didn't think it affected them. City of Tape #CTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 7445536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department B September 2011 [N:/Traffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] 1 0 Printed On Recycled Paper F Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 8 Commissioner King - The lady that spoke indicated she observed cars without plates; those cars could be towed, right? Wayne Winthers, Asst. City Attorney - Assuming it has no plates and no other registration identification; it could have paper tag in the window. The Police Dept. would have to come out and investigate it and see if there was any valid registration, run the VIN number and make that determination. Commissioner King - So could you get those cars towed with some investigation by the Police? Commissioner Vaughan - If the car is on the street and there is a violation like that, if there is no front plate, if the tags are out of registration. In my City parking control officers can issue parking citations for certain violations of that nature, certainly a Police officer can come out and issue citations. In the case of vehicles that are parked in excess of 72 hours the police can come out and mark it and if it hasn't been moved by the next day they would tow that vehicle. Chairman Beil - I'd just like to say to the people that spoke who live outside the proposed permit area, just come down and talk to Dave or Amir and they can advise you on how to proceed to get your street included. I think the permit parking programs are very successful and particularly when you get somebody in the neighborhood to go out canvassing and doing the leg work that's very important to the community. We have repeatedly dealt with these pockets of housing conditions that are overcrowded. We can't control the number of vehicles out there but we can try to provide a better quality of life for the residents of these neighborhoods and congratulations for taking that initiative. Commissioner Vaughan - I think this is an excellent example of residents all coming together and I think it's a win -win for you in the City, and I appreciate it as a resident to be able to take charge of the area in front of your home. Chairman Beil - I'd ask Mr. Tunstall to please contact City staff and there is also another resident on Lincoln who wants information to get into this. Amir Farahani, City Traffic Engineer - I would like to add that the process is within 15 days if we don't get any appeals we will take this to the City Council for their final approval. ` City of Tape #CTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 744 -5536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department LY September 2011 tN:/rraffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] a Printed On Recycled Paper H Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 9 Chairman Beil — I think it's important where I don't want to delay this, we need to look at the process of getting any additional areas amended as needed. Wayne Winthers, Asst. City Attorney — You have to wait until the Council approves it, and then there will be a period of time before the signs can go up, and you get your permits. Once the permits are in place then the Police Dept. will assign someone to patrol that area during the day. If there is a problem you may call it in, they will send someone out to check it when they have someone available, parking control is a lower priority call but your problem will be addressed when they have someone available. ACTION: Approved the request. MOTION: W. King SECOND: N. Lall AYES: Unanimous NOES: 3. Request for the installation of additional red curb markings on the west side of Cambridge St. south of Lake Dr. Brian Thomas 700 E. Lake Dr., #138 Orange CA 92866 Oral presentation is based on the written staff report, please refer to your copy. Chairman Beil opened the public hearing for the following discussion: Michael VanHolpen, 849 E. Fairway Dr . — Opposed to request. The installation of red curb would mean I would have to park on Fairway which has a lot of duplexes and there isn't much parking; I would have to park on the other side of Cambridge St., if you try crossing this street during the morning or afternoon it's not easy, and I would have to cross with my kids when I take them to school. My biggest issue is that this is right in front of my door and it would take my parking away. Virginia Miscione, 700 E. Lake Dr. #118 — Every morning when I go out the cars are parked on the side and it does impede our vision. As you make a left you have to look at the on- coming traffic but you also can't see beyond those parked ` City of Tape #CTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 7445536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department B September 2011 [N:/Traffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] a Printed On Recycled Paper X Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 10 trucks and cars so you pull out and if there is a car on Cambridge pretty fast you have to back up again and you're almost hit. That is what causes the anxiety of a possible accident, if you're turning right it's not so bad. I sympathize with my neighbor and if he has kids I know it can't be easy, but I think that if he parked on the street beyond the street on his side, it would be a lot better for him and his children than it would be for us to have the potential for an accident every time we turn out of there. Also that is a bike path so not only does it block our vision but it also blocks the bike path. Why did they put it in if people can't us it. Todd Janssen, 803 E. Fairway Dr . — I'm about half -way down the block. There is limited parking on our street, especially toward the end of the street where the 2 units on each corner of Cambridge and Fairway have limited driveways compared with the other driveways on the street, they are somewhat forced to park on Cambridge St. If that parking were removed it would either put them back on Fairway Dr. or they would have to park on the other side of Cambridge or even down across Lake towards the bridge. Chairman Beil closed the public hearing and returned the item to the Commission for final discussion and a motion. Chairman Beil — I'm very familiar with the area, it's pretty close to my neighborhood and I drive it all the time. Personally I don't see a problem with a vision zone and trying to pull out. Traffic is different at peak periods particularly morning and afternoon, basically school drop -off and pick -up times. ACTION: Deny the request. MOTION: J. Beil SECOND: W. King AYES: Unanimous ` City of Tape #CTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 7445536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department B September 2011 [N:[Praffic /CPC /2011 Minutes] a Printed On Recycled Paper U Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 11 4. Request for the installation of red curb markings on both sides of the driveway serving 800 N. Mallard St. Lana Rolsen PO Box 613 Yorba Linda CA 92885 Oral presentation is based on the written staff report, please refer to your copy. Chairman Beil opened the public hearing for the following discussion: Lana Rolsen, 800 N. Mallard St . — I'm there most of the time because my tenants are constantly calling me regarding parking problems, but on Friday they park here through Monday. I leave a note on the side to not block the driveway. When we try to turn into the street we are almost hitting the car when it's parked here. On Mallard they have tri-plex units and I have people call me up that want to rent a 2 bedroom unit for 7 people, 2 families. So we have more cars there so that is why we have this issue. Mark Calderon, 800 N. Mallard St. #A — In favor of the red curb. If there is 3 ft. of red curb it's not going to help the line of vision but it's the part when they're past that and impeding the driveway that is the issue, especially when it's a big F150 truck. This is a narrow street and you can't see them coming, if a neighbor has to pull in then the cars behind him zoom to the left, there are kids running back and forth everywhere and it's dangerous. I'm trying to pull around him and a car is coming at me. We can't put the trash cans out at night. Chairman Beil closed the public hearing and returned the item to the Commission for final discussion and a motion. Chairman Beil — It's not just Mallard St., it's Morgan, Kathleen and another area in the City that is completely over - densified and it has a lot of vehicles populating the area. We can't just put in little pieces of red curb sporadically on the street it will reduce the amount of parking. It's already pushed out on the other side of Collins on Mallard dealing with permit parking and overnight parking where the overflow has been actually crossing Collins Ave. I'm not in favor of doing anything to remove parking in this area. Vice Chairman Lall — When a car overhangs a driveway like that, is it a citable offense or can they force that car to be towed? �7 City of Tape #CTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 744 -5536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department L� September 2011 [N:/Traffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] a Printed On Recycled Paper Ht Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 12 Wayne Winthers, Asst. City Attorney -It's my understanding that if it's just overhanging that's not citable as opposed to completely blocking. Vice Chairman Lall - Is there any State or County law that prohibits the City of Orange to implement an ordinance to prohibit overhanging that would allow the Police to either cite or tow? Wayne Winthers, Asst. City Attorney - I can't give you an official legal opinion without research, but I would think that the parking rules are preempted by State law and we probably would not be able to alter that, but I would have to look at it further. Vice Chairman Lall - I feel for your situation it's got to be a major headache, but I have to agree with my colleagues that if we put in red curb for you everyone else down the line is going to want it, and we're going to have a huge parking problem that spill over to other streets. Commissioner King - I understand this problem also, I have a fire hydrant in front of my house and when school opened this term everybody parks in front of the fire hydrant. Sometimes I go out and ask people to move their car and they get mad, they don't want to move, "where's the sign that says I can't park in front of a fire hydrant ", and I quote the Vehicle Code and they still don't want to move. ACTION: Deny the request. MOTION: W. King SECOND: C. Vaughan AYES: Unanimous End of Consideration Items City of Tape #CTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 744 -5536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department B September 2011 [N:/Praffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] 1 0 , Printed On Recycled Paper Minutes of a Regular Meeting - City Traffic Commission — September 14, 2011 Pg. 13 V. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS None this month. VI. ADJOURNMENT After discussion of today's Agenda the City Traffic Commission meeting was concluded, and as there were no further requests for action under Oral Presentations, the Chairman adjourned this session of the City Traffic Commission. The next meeting of the City Traffic Commission is scheduled: 5:30 P.M. Wednesday - October 12, 2011 Respectfully submitted, CITY OF ORANGE Phyllis Then, Recording Secretary Traffic Engineering Division then @citvoforanee.or CITY OF ORANGE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 300 E. CHAPMAN AVENUE ORANGE CA 92566 PH: (714) 7445536 FAX: (714) 744 -5573 ` City of Tape ACTC -31.06 of this City Traffic Commission meeting is available for your review. rang Please contact the Recording Secretary at (714) 7445536 in this regard, advance notice is appreciated. Public Works Department September 2011 [N:/Traffic /CTC /2011 Minutes] a Printed On Recycled Paper