San Mateo Adopts New Oversize Vehicle Parking Ordinance

The San Mateo City Council has adopted a new “Oversized Vehicle Parking in Residential Neighborhoods” ordinance, city officials said this week.
Adoption of the ordinance on May 6 followed a comprehensive multi-tiered community outreach effort to gather perspective from all stakeholders of various interests.
The ordinance limits on-street parking of oversized vehicles in residential neighborhoods. Examples of oversized vehicles include, but are not limited to, larger commercial vehicles, RVs, boats, and stretch limousines. 
In early 2011, homeowner associations approached the City of San Mateo regarding the visibility and safety issues, along with parking shortages, created by oversized vehicles parking on residential streets.
Residents identified oversized vehicle parking as a citywide problem, with some neighborhoods having a higher incidence of oversized vehicles.
An oversized vehicle is defined as having: a height, including load, of 7.5 feet; a width, including load, of 7.5 feet (from the widest portion of the vehicle, but not including mirrors); a length, including load, of 22 feet (in combination with any attached trailer); a weight (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating – GVWR) exceeding 5 tons (10,000 pounds).
The ordinance also restricts unattached trailers, regardless of size, from being left in the public right-of-way on residential streets, as well as boat trailers (with or without boats).
Since recreational vehicles are of a size that would exceed the Oversized Vehicle height, width or length definition identified above, this ordinance, based on modifications recommended by the Public Works Commission (PWC), would also restrict the parking of RVs in the public right-of-way on streets that are zoned residential.
This ordinance does not prohibit the parking of oversized vehicles on private property. 
The ordinance includes several exceptions. It allows RVs to be parked on the street in front of the RV owner’s property for 24 consecutive hours twice during any seven day period; the two 24 hour periods can be consecutive.
The ordinance also includes exceptions for: wheelchair accessible vans, emergency response vehicles, and oversized vehicles providing a service to a residential property.
An educational “grace period” is expected to commence in July after the City has posted the required signage notifying residents of the ordinance. Warnings followed by enforcement are expected to commence in September. 
“Throughout this community-driven process, we have attempted to gather input from a wide group of people of different interests,” said Larry Patterson, Director of Public Works. “We feel we have developed an ordinance that attempts to balance the need for safety with the need for folks to use their oversized vehicles.”  
To learn more, visit www.cityofsanmateo.org/oversizedvehicleparking or contact Sheri Costa-Batis of Public Works at 650.522.7334 or scosta-batis@cityofsanmateo.org.