Pacifica Municipal Code Art. 11 Stopping, Standing, and Parking

(a) Prohibited parking. The provisions of this chapter prohibiting the stopping, standing, and parking of vehicles shall apply at all times or at those times specified in this chapter, except when it is necessary to stop a vehicle to avoid conflict with other traffic or in compliance with the directions of a police officer or official traffic control device.

(b) Limited parking. The provisions of this chapter imposing a time limit on standing or parking shall not relieve any person from the duty to observe other and more restrictive provisions of the Vehicle Code of the State or the laws of the City prohibiting or limiting the standing or parking of vehicles in specified places or at specified times.

(§ 130, Ord. 125)

No person shall park a motor vehicle, trailer, camper, recreational vehicle, or boat upon any public street, roadway, or public property for the principal purpose of;

(a) Changing the oil or greasing or repairing such vehicle, except for repairs necessitated by an emergency.

(§ 133, Ord. 125, as amended by § I, Ord. 499-C.S., eff. February 24, 1988, and § 1, Ord. 689-C.S., eff. July 25, 2001)

No person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle within any parkway.

(§ 131, Ord. 125)

(a) Authorized. The Traffic Engineer is hereby authorized to erect signs indicating no parking upon the side of any street adjacent to school property where such parking, in his opinion, would interfere with traffic or create a hazardous situation.

(b) Obedience. Where official signs are erected indicating no parking upon the side of a street adjacent to any school property, no person shall park a vehicle in any such designated place.

(§ 136, Ord. 125)

(§ 132, Ord. 125, as amended by § 1, Ord. 287; repealed by § 1, Ord. 427-C.S., eff. November 7, 1984)

(a) Authorized. The Traffic Engineer is hereby authorized to place signs or marking on improved streets indicating no parking, or restricted parking, upon both sides of any street where the width of the roadway does not exceed twenty (20′) feet or upon one side of a street, as indicated by such signs or markings, where the travel lane width is less than ten (10′) feet. The Traffic Engineer is hereby also authorized to place signs and/or pavement markings on unimproved streets indicating that parking of vehicles upon any City street is prohibited unless an unobstructed distance of not less than six (6′) feet is maintained to the centerline of the improved or the main traveled portion of the street.

(b) Obedience. Where official signs or markings prohibiting parking are erected upon narrow streets as authorized in this section, no person shall park a vehicle upon any such street in violation of any such sign or marking.

(§ 137, Ord. 125, as amended by § 1, Ord. 529-C.S., eff. June 21, 1989; § 3, Ord. 855-C.S., eff. January 27, 2020)

The Traffic Engineer shall appropriately sign or mark the following places and, where so signed or marked, no person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle in any of such places:

(a) At any place within twenty (20′) feet of a point in the curb immediately opposite the mid-block end of a safety zone;

(b) At any place within twenty (20′) feet of a crosswalk at an intersection in any business district; provided, however, a bus may stop at a designated bus stop;

(c) Within twenty (20′) feet of the approach to any traffic signal, boulevard stop, or official electric flashing device; and

(d) At any place where the Traffic Engineer determines it is necessary in order to eliminate dangerous traffic hazards.

(§ 139, Ord. 125)

(a) Authorized. Whenever the Traffic Engineer shall determine that an emergency traffic congestion is likely to result from the holding of public or private assemblages, gatherings, or functions, or for other reasons, he shall have the power and authority to order temporary signs to be erected or posted indicating that the operation, parking, or standing of vehicles is prohibited on such streets and alleys as the Traffic Engineer shall direct during the time such temporary signs are in place. Such signs shall remain in place only during the existence of such emergency, and the Traffic Engineer shall cause such signs to be removed promptly thereafter.

(b) Obedience. Where signs authorized by the provisions of this section are in place giving notice thereof, no person shall operate, park, or stand any vehicle contrary to the directions and provisions of such signs.

(§ 141, Ord. 125)

(a) One-way streets. Subject to other and more restrictive limitations, a vehicle may be stopped or parked within eighteen (18″) inches of the left-hand curb facing in the direction of traffic movement upon any one-way street unless signs are in place prohibiting such stopping or standing.

(b) More than one roadway. In the event a highway includes two (2) or more separate roadways and traffic is restricted to one direction upon any such roadway, no person shall stand or park a vehicle upon the left-hand side of such one-way roadway unless signs are in place permitting such standing or parking.

(c) Determination by Traffic Engineer. The Traffic Engineer is hereby authorized to determine where standing or parking shall be prohibited upon the left-hand side of any one-way street or where standing or parking may be permitted upon the left-hand side of any one-way roadway of a highway having two (2) or more separate roadways and shall erect signs giving notice thereof.

(d) Exceptions: Commercial vehicles. The parallel parking requirements of this section shall not apply in the event any commercial vehicle is actually engaged in the process of loading or unloading freight or goods, in which event such vehicle may be backed up to the curb provided such vehicle does not extend beyond the center line of the street and does not block traffic thereby.

(§ 134, Ord. 125)

(a) Authorized. Whenever any ordinance of the City designates and describes any street, or portion thereof, upon which angle parking shall be permitted, the Traffic Engineer shall mark or sign such street, indicating the angle at which vehicles shall be parked.

(b) Obedience. Where signs or markings are in place indicating angle parking, no person shall park or stand a vehicle other than at the angle to the curb or edge of the roadway indicated by such signs or markings.

(c) Designation of streets. Angle parking shall be permitted upon those streets and parts of streets set forth in Section 4-7.1602 of Article 16 of this chapter.

(§ 135, Ord. 125)

No person shall park or leave standing any unattended vehicle when upon any grade exceeding three (3%) percent on a highway within any business or residential district without blocking the wheels of such vehicle by turning them against the curb or by other means.

(§ 138, Ord. 125)

No person shall stand or park any trailer, as defined in Section 630 of the Vehicle Code of the State, with the wheels thereof either attached or detached, upon any public street, avenue, highway, lane, alley, court, or public place within the City for a period of more than twelve (12) hours in any one day.

(§ 139A, Ord. 125, as added by § 1, Ord. 240)

(a) Permits required. Except as set forth in this section, no person shall use a vehicle to vend on any roadway without first obtaining a written permit to do so from the Traffic Engineer, which permit shall designate the specific location in which such cart or other vehicle shall stand. No person shall park or stand any vehicle used, or intended to be used, in the transportation of property for hire on any street while awaiting patronage for such vehicle without first obtaining a written permit to do so from the Traffic Engineer, which permit shall designate the specific location where such vehicle may stand. This section shall not apply to sidewalk vending, which shall be permitted and regulated in accordance with Title 4, Chapter 18 of the code.

(b) Exceptions. A permit under this section shall not be required to:

(1) Vend on a roadway from any vehicle in a manner that does not involve the parking or stopping the vehicle in one place for a period of time that exceeds ten (10) minutes.

(2) Deliver articles upon the order of, or by agreement with, a customer from a store or other fixed place of business or distribution; or

(3) Use any commercial vehicle, or trailer component thereof, for making pickups or deliveries of goods, wares, and merchandise from or to any building or structure in a residential area for the purpose of delivering materials to be used in the repair, alteration, remodeling, or construction of any building or structure for which a building permit has been issued.

(c) Location. Whenever any permit is granted pursuant to the provisions of this section and a particular location to park or stand is specified therein, no person shall park or stand any vehicle in any location other than as designated in such permit.

(d) Violations. Violations may be enforced as an infraction under Title 1, Chapter 2, or by civil penalty issued via administrative citation under Title 1, Chapter 6. In addition, the Traffic Engineer may revoke a permit for violations of this section.

(§ 3, Ord. 840-C.S., eff. May 7, 2019)

Editor's note— Ord. 840-C.S., § 3, effective May 7, 2019, in effect, repealed § 4-7.1113 and enacted a new § 4-7.1113 as set out herein. Former § 4-7.1113 pertained to peddling, vending and transportation vehicles and derived from Ord. 125, § 140.

(§ 1, Ord. 480-C.S., eff. April 22, 1987 and repealed by § 4, Ord. 866-C.S., eff. August 11, 2021)