Venice Community Applies Pressure in Controversial RV Issue, Sees Results

Photo by nailmaker via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr

Photo by nailmaker via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr
For the second time in a week, L.A. City Councilmember Bill Rosendahl has reacted to community concern voiced to the city directly about the RV parking issue that's been coming to a head this week. The controversy has heated up so much -- much thanks to dramatic alleged human waste dumping on city streets and a subsequent arrest -- that the internet and mainstream media is taking on the story with a much more watchful eye.

A group called Don't Dump on Venice "demanded immediate release of the City Council’s unanimously approved Oversized Vehicle sign petitions from Councilman Bill Rosendahl," according to Yo! Venice this morning.

And in return, Rosendahl provided them with just that. His office this afternoon is announced that residents can download petitions (.pdf) in order to canvass their block to restrict oversize parking and vehicles. Blocks where two-thirds of the residents, businesses and property owners support the restrictions will have signs installed along the street. Temporary $10 per day permits, with a maximum three-day limit, can be purchased by residents who own RVs and need to load or unload them.

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The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the city's oversize vehicle ordinance in June, which still went into law despite an unusual move by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who did not approve or veto the legislation. The previous ordinance defined oversize vehicles as 7 feet high and 22 feet long. The new ordinance defines an oversized vehicle if exceeds either the two dimensions, not both.

“For too long, residents of Venice have sought relief from the proliferation of RVs, campers and other oversize vehicles in front of their homes.” Rosendahl said a statement. “The California Coastal Commission has wrongly denied Venice the same parking restrictions other communities have. This is one of the few tools we have at our disposal.”

The Coastal Commission has jurisdiction over parking permit issues within a certain amount of distance from the coast. In Venice, that's west of Lincoln Avenue. The City Council tried to implement resident-only Overnight Parking Districts, but the attempts were denied by the Commission, which does not have authority over oversize parking districts.

Before the signs can be installed, Rosendahl said the Council still has to approve a secondary motion, which he will ask to be expedited next week when the legislative break ends.

Signs would restrict oversize vehicles from parking 2 to 6 a.m.