DISCUSSION
The County maintains an unnamed frontage road (3H003) from its intersection with County Road 2G02 (Happy Valley Road) to .23 miles south to its intersection with State Highway 273 (the "Subject Road"). Concerns have been reported about the parking of vehicles (other than commercial vehicles with a manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight of 11,500 pounds or more) on the Subject Road and the associated County right of way. The concerns relate to the creation of potential adverse health, sanitary, environmental, and safety impacts as a result of the parking of such vehicles on the Subject Road and the associated County right of way for the use of camping and vending. For example, street vendors and their customers block shoulders and spill into the roadway. These congested conditions create public health and safety issues. This ordinance is necessary to promote the public health and safety as a means to mitigate these potential adverse impacts within the Subject Road and the associated County right of way. Commercial vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight of 11,500 pounds or more routinely park overnight along the road. Local truck drivers pull off the highway and walk to their homes nearby. Commercial truck parking sites are scarce and the site is well suited to this use. The road is in a Commercial-Light Industrial (C-M) Zoning District, along a state highway with dense residential nearby. Concerns, similar to those mentioned above, have not been expressed in connection with the parking of these commercial vehicles. The Department recommends that large commercial vehicle parking continue to be allowed. The proposed ordinance also serves to update the enforcement provisions of the no parking restrictions in the unincorporated area. Pursuant to Vehicle Code section 40200, Tyler v. County of Alameda, 34 Cal. App. 4th 777 (1995), and U.S. v. Choudhry, 461 F.3d 1097 (9th Cir. 2006), “Legislative intent, California court decisions, and the interpretation of the California Attorney General all confirm that parking violations are no longer . . . treated as infractions within the criminal justice system, instead, they are treated as civil offenses subject to civil penalties and administrative enforcement.” The proposed ordinance includes procedures and civil penalties designed to comply with these legal provisions. The proposed civil penalties are consistent with the civil penalties currently imposed for unlawful parking at the Shasta County Administration Parking structure and surrounding areas. |