Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
Waterfront parking rules will significantly change on January 1, 2020, to include vehicle size limits and specific types of vehicles.
After five public meetings over the course of five months, the Santa Barbara City Council approved the parking amendments as many committees reported an increase in parking demands and people taking advantage of loopholes.
The growing popularity of local watersports, emergence of the Funk Zone as a tourist destination, and reopening of Lower State Street are credited with a considerable increase in waterfront parking. Residents and businesses were recognized for taking advantage of a Waterfront General Permit for storing vehicles and storing goods/merchandise inside vehicles, opposed to on-street parking or proper vehicle storage.
The new parking regulations will not allow RVs, buses, motorhomes, campers, house cars, or any vehicles exceeding 22 feet in length to purchase an annual waterfront parking permit. Instead, these types of vehicles would need to adhere to the standard hourly and daily rates.
The General Annual Parking Permit will also no longer allow parked vehicles to exceed the 72-hour limit in the Harbor Main Lot. Previously, permit holders could park longer after receiving permission. The permission was intended for those on extended marine-related activities such as a multi-day sailing or diving trip. However, most people used this when leaving town and did not want to store their vehicle at the airport or another location.
The complete ordinance can be found here.
Remember when Bob Hansen’s bus used to cruise around town with the “threat or promise” of COMING TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SOON painted on the side? The Harbor has been a convenient flocking spot for those who live in large vehicles. Guaranteed they will now fan out into neighborhoods. Beware having “attractive nuisance” items in your front yards where they can be easily purloined.
This is long overdue. It’s amazing how long this mis-use has been allowed. Good for the City, giving the boot to these campers and “storage units.”
Of course the city completely ignored the primary reason there is no parking on the waterfront. The city gave away the Leadbetter parking lots to SBCC by allowing city college parking permits to be valid in these lots. If you think this isn’t the case, just check out the lots on Fridays when there are no SBCC classes (wouldn’t want anyone at city college to actually have to work 5 days a week). Plenty of parking on Fridays. I just love spending 5 grand a year in slip fees and another couple of hundred for parking permits and still not being able to park within walking distance to the harbor.
Here’s the answer for that guy who is going out of town but needed to park his truck long term due to street sweeping of his residential parking. He can get a spot before the rule change goes into effect. Meanwhile, after Jan. 1, expect more over-sized vehicles invading local neighborhoods, in owners’ attempts to store their RVs, etc.
Ahoy! Land yacht captains and crew alike! Y’all best get the charts out and plot a course fer safer pavement harbors, Cause there’s a new Commodore in town and he ain’t acceptin any Letters of Marque from Corsairs. He’s a grieving the bottom and swabbi’n the decks. Commodore’s gonna need plenty o’loot to pay lawyers for all the negligence cases he’s inherited. So he’s a plunderin’ parking dubloons and a fillin’ the war chest. And sure as any seafarer worth his salt can see, Coomodore’s bout to bring a spring upon her cable and broadside in his chase. Just like Decatur negotiated peace in the Second Barbary War.
Good on the City for doing something about these people taking advantage of loopholes. But I agree, this will also put more RVs and campers on residential streets.
quoting the above article: “The General Annual Parking Permit will also no longer allow parked vehicles to exceed the 72-hour limit in the Harbor Main Lot. Previously, permit holders could park longer after receiving permission. The permission was intended for those on extended marine-related activities such as a multi-day sailing or diving trip. However, most people used this when leaving town and did not want to store their vehicle at the airport or another location.” *** ok so what ABOUT the mariners that are at sea for extended periods of time? I go out sailing and sometimes can be away for well over a week. This isn’t ok…
Just another attack on transient people. Some of those guys living in their vehicles near the harbor have been there for years and pose no problems. Shame on our rich NIMBY city.