TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Tom Kisela, City Manager
FROM: Christopher Cash, Public Works Director
1. Subject
title
Expansion of Permit Parking Area “AA” to include both sides of E. Avenida Palmar from west City limits to N. Thora Street and both sides of N. Sandpiper Circle, and establishment of Permit Parking Area “AB,” to be comprised of both sides of N. Mallard Street from E. Locust Avenue to E. Jackson Avenue. Resolution Nos. 11606, 11607, or 11608.
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2. Summary
Staff received three requests for permit parking. All three requests were processed in accordance with the City’s Neighborhood Permit Parking Program, adequately supported by the affected property owners, and approved by the City Traffic Commission. If approved, E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle will be added the existing Permit Parking Area “AA” and N. Mallard Street, from E. Locust Avenue to E. Jackson Avenue, will establish Permit Parking Area “AB.”
3. Recommended Action
recommendation
Approve one of the following options: Option 1, 2 OR 3.
1. Option 1. Approve permit parking on E. Avenida Palmar, N. Sandpiper Circle and N. Mallard Street and adopt Resolution No. 11606. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange adopting a revised master resolution of designated permit parking areas and established permit parking opportunity areas within the City of Orange.
2. Option 2. Approve permit parking on E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle only and adopt Resolution No. 11607. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange adopting a revised master resolution of designated permit parking areas and established permit parking opportunity areas within the City of Orange.
3. Option 3. Approve permit parking on N. Mallard Street only and adopt Resolution No. 11608. A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Orange adopting a revised master resolution of designated permit parking areas and established permit parking opportunity areas within the City of Orange.
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4. Fiscal Impact
None.
5. Strategic Plan Goals
Goal 5: Improve Infrastructure, Mobility, and Technology
6. Discussion and Background
The City’s Neighborhood Permit Parking Program (NPPP) provides a mechanism for protecting residential streets from external parking overflow when certain criteria are satisfied. To initiate the NPPP process, a property owner on an affected and eligible street must submit a written request identifying the streets and boundaries for permit parking as well as days and times where demand for on-street parking is the highest. City staff will review the proposed streets for eligibility for incorporation into the permit parking program. Once reviewed, staff will conduct a parking occupancy study on eligible streets. A street must have a minimum 75% parking occupancy and 75% property owner support via a petition process. If these criteria are met, staff will present the proposed permit parking boundaries to City Traffic Commission (CTC) for initial review and City Council for final approval.
This report presents requests for permit parking in two separate sets of streets (areas), which must be adopted by resolution. Because only one permit parking resolution may be adopted at any given City Council meeting, the two areas are combined into a single agenda item, with the recommended action formatted in such a way to give the City Council the option to approve permit parking in any one or both areas.
Permit Parking on E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle
Staff received written requests for permit parking to be implemented on several streets in the neighborhood of E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle. Of those streets, only E. Avenida Palmar, from west City limits to N. Thora Street, and Sandpiper Circle met the objectives and criteria of the City’s NPPP for permit parking consideration. Staff mapped the number of legal parking spaces for each of the streets and conducted parking occupancy studies during hours of highest demand identified by the proponents. Both E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle exceeded the 75% minimum level of parking occupancy, with an average parking occupancy of 76% and 75%, respectively. Subsequently, staff mailed petitions to affect property owners. The results of petition process for E. Avenida Palmar indicate that 88% of property owners are in favor of permit parking, 0% were opposed, and 12% did not respond. On N. Sandpiper Circle, 75% of property owners were in favor of permit parking, 0% were opposed, and 25% did not respond. Because the support on each street exceeded the 75% stipulated in the NPPP, staff supports, and the CTC recommends implementation of permit parking on the aforementioned streets. If approved, E. Avenida Palmar, from west City limits to N. Thora Street, and both sides of N. Sandpiper Circle would be added to existing Permit Parking Area “AA”, as shown in Attachment 4. Permit Parking Area “AA” was established in December 2023. The requests for permit parking on Avenida Palmar and Sandpiper Circle were made less than one year from implementation of permit parking in Area “AA.”
One of the requests for permit parking was made by a resident of Thora Street, and also included Renee Street. While Renee Street satisfied the parking occupancy requirement (average occupancy of 97%,) it was not included in the petition process or recommended to CTC for the following reasons:
• Permitting Renee Street would not meet a key NPPP objective of providing reasonably convenient parking opportunities for residents that otherwise would not have access to such. Both properties in Orange that front the street would have adequate parking without designating it parking-by-permit only.
• Many of the concerns being expressed are over red curb violations and public nuisance activities, both of which are enforcement matters that permit parking is not the appropriate mechanism for resolving.
• The street is already heavily parked to the extent that permitting nearby streets would not be expected to displace any additional vehicles onto Renee.
Notwithstanding the above, a resident/business owner on a property taking access onto Renee street spoke under public comments at the CTC meeting, requesting that Renee Street be considered as part of the permit parking approval. The resident has also subsequently submitted a letter to the CTC requesting same, a copy of which is provided as Attachment 11 for the City Council’s reference.
Permit Parking on N. Mallard Street
Staff received a written request for permit parking to be implemented on several streets in the area of N. Mallard Street. Of those streets, only N. Mallard Street, from E. Locust Avenue to E. Jackson Avenue, met the objectives and criteria of the City’s NPPP for permit parking consideration. Staff mapped the number of legal parking spaces for the street and conducted parking occupancy studies during hours of highest demand identified by the proponent. N. Mallard Street exceeded the 75% minimum level of parking occupancy, with an average parking occupancy of 79%. Subsequently, staff mailed petitions to affected property owners. The results of the petition process for N. Mallard Street indicate that 85% of property owners are in favor of permit parking, 7% are opposed, and 7% did not respond. Because the support on each street exceeded the 75% stipulated in the NPPP, staff supports, and the CTC recommends implementation of permit parking. If approved, N. Mallard Street, from E. Locust Avenue to E. Jackson Avenue, would establish Permit Parking Area “AB”.
Based on the above, three options are presented for City Council’s consideration:
• Option 1 approves permit parking on E. Avenida Palmar, N. Sandpiper Circle and N. Mallard Street; and
• Option 2 approves permit parking only on E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle; and
• Option 3 approves permit parking only on N. Mallard Street.
It should be noted that property owners of any street adjacent experiencing spillover may request to initiate permit parking within a year without having to pay the application fee. Parking occupancy, petition thresholds, and other requirements in effect at the time would still apply. Furthermore, permit parking does not supersede other parking restrictions such as street sweeping. Participation in the permit program is voluntary. However, any vehicle parking on the street without a permit after implementation is subject to citation.
7. ATTACHMENTS
• Attachment 1 Resolution No. 11606 (Option 1)
• Attachment 2 Resolution No. 11607 (Option 2)
• Attachment 3 Resolution No. 11608 (Option 3)
• Attachment 4 E. Avenida Palmar and N. Sandpiper Circle Activation Map
• Attachment 5 N. Mallard Street Activation Map
• Attachment 6 City Traffic Commission Staff Report April 9, 2025 (Avenida Palmar and Sandpiper Circle)
• Attachment 7 City Traffic Commission Staff Report April 9, 2025 (Mallard Street)
• Attachment 8 Draft City Traffic Commission Minutes April 9, 2025
• Attachment 9 Notification Letter Avenida Palmar and Sandpiper Circle
• Attachment 10 Notification Letter Mallard Street
• Attachment 11 Letter to CTC Requesting Permit Parking on Renee Street