City OKs More Parking for RV Dwellers Print E-mail
By Melissa Evans   
Wednesday, April 25 2007

Residents who live in recreational vehicles will have more spaces to park in city lots as part of a court settlement agreement between the city of Santa Barbara and a group that challenged a city ban on the practice. 

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The City Council on Tuesday agreed to open up more parking for RV dwellers, including the Carrillo Commuter Lot.
The City Council on Tuesday opened up nine spaces in three parking lots, bringing the total parking spaces for RVs in the region to about 55.  The new spaces will open in the Carrillo commuter lot on Castillo Street, the Cota Street commuter lot and the visitor center at Garden Street and Cabrillo Boulevard. 

Tuesday's decision was the latest round in a lengthy debate over what to do about the homeless people who park their vehicles on public streets overnight. 

In 2004, the courts stopped the city from issuing parking tickets to RV dwellers, ruling that not enough signs had been posted warning them of the ban. The courts also said the practice unfairly targeted the homeless.

Houses on Wheels, the group that successfully sued the city, has long advocated for more areas where RV dwellers with no other housing options can park their vehicles. 

The city has since been working with the New Beginnings Counseling Center to administer a program that allows additional city lots to be used, and on Tuesday officials agreed to expand that program. Nonprofit organizations and churches also open their parking lots to some of the estimated 300 RV dwellers in the region.

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Parking will still be restricted at the Carrillo Commuter lot, but three more spaces will be available to RV residents. Photo by Melissa Evans/SBN
Council members stressed on Tuesday that the use of city lots should be viewed as a temporary fix to a much larger problem.

Although “compassion is a moral imperative,” said Councilman Das Williams, “the purpose here is to get housing. That should be clear.”

During the course of its budget hearings in the next few months, the city will look into providing up to $62,000 to New Beginnings to help the agency enforce program rules, including the requirement that RV dwellers leave the lots by 6 a.m.

Residents who live near lots with RVs have complained about excessive noise, particularly from generators. City leaders asked that those enforcement issues be closely monitored.

Council members extended the program on Tuesday after months of review by the Downtown Parking Committee and the Harbor Commission. The City Council will review the new policy again in one year.

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