The City of Goleta will soon be implementing its oversized vehicle ordinance that regulates the storage of large vehicles on public streets within the City. Since the City’s incorporation, the issue of storage of oversized vehicles has been one of the top complaints received by the City Council. In 2010, the City’s ordinance committee began to discuss potential parking regulations for these vehicles and solicited input from community members on what an ordinance might look like. The Council considered the options and approved an ordinance and a resolution (see sidebar below). The ordinance goes into effect on September 20, 2012, and the key elements are highlighted below.
First, however, let’s look at the definition of an oversized vehicle. It is defined as “a single vehicle or combination of vehicles that exceed 25 feet, or 80 inches wide, or 82 inches in height.” If any part of the vehicle, or combination of vehicles, exceeds any one of these measurements it is considered an “oversized vehicle.”
Beginning on September 20th, no person may park or leave standing any large vehicle upon any street within a residential area or a commercial area of the City between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. There are some exceptions, however, which include vehicles with valid oversized vehicle parking permits, those being actively loaded or unloaded, a large vehicle properly displaying a valid handicapped parking permit, a public agency emergency response vehicle and any commercial commuter vehicles (such as the Clean Air Express). In addition, the ordinance exempts these rules on weekends and federal holidays.
Let’s examine several scenarios and test them against the new oversized vehicle ordinance:
Scenario 1: Your cousin and his family are coming into town with their 21-foot camper. They want to park in front of your house for a few days and stay in their vehicle at night. Is this allowed? You can obtain a parking permit from the City that would allow the vehicle to be parked in front of your house for up to three days. However, they are not allowed to stay in the vehicle overnight, so be generous and offer them a place on your living room couch!
Scenario 2: You run a carpet cleaning businesses and need to service residences within the City limits during the day. Is this allowed? Yes. Parking is allowed as long as you are actively providing a service.
Scenario 3: You and your family plan to go camping on the weekend, but you want to bring your recreational vehicle to your house to load it on Thursday and unload it the following Monday. Is this allowed? Yes. You simply need to obtain a no-fee permit from the City.
Obtaining a No-Fee Permit
When you are actively loading and unloading your recreational vehicle between 7:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, you’ll need to have a no-fee permit from the City. This permit allows parking for two periods for up to three days. For example, if you wanted to pack three days before a trip and unpack three days after a trip, you would need one permit. You can apply for up to 12 permits per year and each permit is good for two three-day periods.
How Do I Get a Permit?
You can easily download an application from the City’s website at www.cityofgoleta.org or stop by City Hall Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. or on Friday from 8:00 a.m.- noon. The permit applications are processed within 24 hours (during normal business hours). The permitting system will be set up online by September 1st.
