By an edhat reader
Just a heads up 15 cars were towed up by Riven Rock Road and Mountain Road due to blocking the road. There were also over 20 citations.
Riven Rock Road car towing
Anonymous
July 25, 2021, 6:21 am
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I sympathize with those Riven Rock residents,…imagine the indignity of having outsiders parking in your neighborhood!
Marcel, people parking near the trailhead to go hiking is the definition of access. Or are you using a different dictionary than I am?
Does the OP know if the road was made totally impassible by the parked vehicles, or if it was only partially blocked, or just narrowed as to be inconvenient to maneuver vehicles through?
About time. I was near this area yesterday and couldn’t believe the amount of cars arrogantly parking off the road and blocking drive ways, blocking fire hydrants, parking in front of no parking signs. Its ridiculous people show up for a hike and can’t park an extra 100 yards from the trail head. Tow and ticket them all.
Could be a problem though if the cars on the side of the roads truly restrict emergency vehicle access.
I’m curious, what is the actual legal width of the road easement there? Are private yards encroaching on that, and if so, can the trail lovers make a plan to take back the road easement? I have no knowledge one way or another, but someone on a previous Edhat chat said something along these lines. I don’t hike. But maybe someone who does can look into this.
We biked along E Mtn Dr yesterday. There were about 15 cars parked along the ocean side of the road, about 1/2 on 1/2 off the road. It looked like the first car did it, and then others thought it was OK and simply parked behind the first car. There’s no “No parking” signs, but drivers are supposed to know that they need to park so that they are not parked on the road. It’s not a wide road, so it was just wide enough for another car and a bicycle, but not two cars along the stretch where these folks had parked.
There was a CHP car parked at the bottom of the hill. Upon our return an hour later, he was busy writing tickets.
As we rode by, we had the same thought at Millimesa did upthread: If you are going to be hiking a few miles, why can’t you find a legal parking place a few hundred yards away from the trailhead? There’s open places to park with a bit of additional walking, including behind the CHP patrol car. 🙂
Selfish people
Seems pretty simple: In High Fire Zones (virtually everywhere along the front country ) do not park on the roadside anywhere. Your car must be off the road completely. The only parking allowed is 100% off the road or in designated areas. But then again these are the same “hikers” who leave piles of plastic water bottles and other trash, call 911 when they get thirsty and spend more time picking their outfits than they do hiking on the trail… So its not a surprise that something so simple would be missed and or lost. I think its great that they’re actually enforcing the laws. About time!
Awesome, big thanks to the CHP and whoever called.
This is war by the entitled elite on ordinary residents. The entitled elite has placed boulders and plantings in the public right of way along Mountain Drive to block people from parking in perfectly legal locations.
It is interesting how quick law enforcement comes down on people who are doing one of the few activities that is affordable and healthy in this town. Yet they do nothing to enforce the public right of way and prosecute those who block it with boulders and plantings.
There is no such law requiring 20 feet for emergency vehicles. That is totally made up. There are miles of roads in Montecito and elsewhere that are narrower than that even with no cars parked.
Interesting how differently we are treated in Goleta than these wealthy people get treated in Montecito. I see no end in sight as the elected officials and public service organizations seem to be in the pockets of these people.
CA Fire code
Fire apparatus access roads shall have an unobstructed width of not less than 20 feet (6096 mm), except for approved security gates in accordance with Section 503.6, and an unobstructed vertical clearance of 13 feet 6 inches (4115 mm).
If the entitled elite have placed obstructions in the public right of way then that is illegal and they should be cited. But just because you have a justified ideological beef with the entitled elite, and they use a law as part of their entitlement, that doesn’t make the law “totally made up”.
https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Publications-and-media/Blogs-Landing-Page/NFPA-Today/Blog-Posts/2021/01/08/Fire-Apparatus-Access-Roads
That is Megan and Harry’s ‘hood. Get the riff raf out.
Or there is this one:
F. Minimum road widths provided in this standard shall not be obstructed in
any manner, including parking of vehicles.
1. Minimum road width for parking on one side of road is 32 ft, curb face
to curb face.
Riven Rock is plus or minus 20 feet wide in total
Simple solution?
Don’t park on Riven Rock. It is too narrow for parking, which makes it illegal to park there
How about parking on E. Mountain down past Hot Springs and walking. If you want to “stick it to the rich”, park down on 1300 0r 1200 E. Mountain walk up upper Hot Springs road 100 yards to where the road hits the trail. Its the same distance and just as easy as the little trailhead at the the top of Riven Rock but no tow trucks, no CHP and more space to park. The first 100 yards of upper Hot Springs is public and the trail easement is to your left just past the little stone reservoir.
Free tips: Do Not Park On Upper Hot Springs above E. Mountain or park on Riven Rock. They are too narrow for legal parking so avoid tickets and towing. Park on E. Mountain and walk.
Pick up your trash like a decent human being and don’t expect rich people to send their gardeners to pick up your crap.
Be grateful. Local people raised $7.8 million dollars to buy the property so you can enjoy it for free. Griping that a generous gift didn’t come with unlimited front row parking makes you look small and greedy.
Its inconvenient to thread around through the vehicles, but in the event of an emergency, time saves lives so people have to think about how they park.
Do we really have to put up signs explaining that vehicle code for a fire truck is 20 feet wide unobstructed?
When a road cannot support that 20 feet, there is no parking allowed on the road. Do we have to put signs everywhere and color code it all red?
Lets say a Mini Cooper is coming down the Riven Rock followed by a Fiat, vehicles are parked along the edge the entire way. Half way down the cars see that up comes a fire truck because the kitchen is on fire at one of the homes on the East side of Riven Rock and Grandma and the baby are trapped… half of drivers don’t know that the vehicle coming down the hill is responsible for backing up and the firefighters are going to have to get out and clear the road instead of just driving in.
People here whine about these entitled rich people who don’t want to have their emergency access blocked and then whine themselves in an entitled way that the County should give them access right next to the trailhead because god forbid they might have to hike as part of their hike.
The Hot Springs trail is not a County Park, it is not owned by the County. The County has jurisdiction over the road ways
Here is a link that explains:
https://www.sblandtrust.org/portfolio-item/hot-springs-canyon/
From the link
Parking is limited— park safely and do not block roads or driveways.
It’s about a mile hike each way to the springs.
Not wheelchair accessible.
The pools are not maintained and they are not on Land Trust property.
Dogs are permitted but pick up after them.
Leave no trace. Pack it in/pack it out.
Trail is open dawn to dusk, no overnight parking or camping.
There’s no problem accessing the trail. That’s not what this is about.
There’s no problem parking in the neighborhood, just with parking illegally.
Gotta love the Goleta vs Montecito “treatment” and the “lazy” elite vs working stiffs coming from some posters here. Does not matter one bit to those who enforce parking: If you park where you’re not supposed to, expect that you might be towed away or ticketed. What is so hard to understand about simply following the rules?