The Coalition meets monthly with the City of San Rafael along with two other umbrella groups (Federation of Neighborhoods and Coalition of North San Rafael) to discuss activities, concerns and/or issues that are not readily addressed directly with the appropriate City agencies or where there is concern about the City’s approach. Items are placed on the agenda by the City and/or the three umbrella groups. This provides the Coalition with an opportunity to raise issues of particular interest to residents of our area. If you have any suggestions regarding potential topics for these meetings, we urge you to let us know via the Coalition Board contact form. Following is a summary of the most recent meeting: 1. Proposed New Parking Restrictions. The City is planning to introduce legislation at the City Council on June 20 that would:
- Create a prohibition of RV’s parking on City streets. Owners of RV would be allowed to park their RV on the street while loading or unloading them. Also they would be able to apply for a temporary permit that would allow RV’s a limited stay. For example, if a resident was having a person with an RV visit them for a couple of days, they could apply for a temporary permit to allow the visitor to park in front of their house.
- Create a prohibition of oversize vehicles from parking more than one hour on City streets. An oversize vehicle is is defined as one meeting one of these definitions: being over 22 feet in length, greater than seven feet wide or more than 8 feet in height. The current parking restriction applies to vehicles over 10,000 lb. This new law would probably result in the those hauling companies from parking their trucks on Point San Pedro Road.
The City’s parking manager is planning to prepare a short summary of the proposed new law and when he does we can then send out that notification to our east San Rafael residents. [NOTE: Here is additional information provided after the meeting:
The City of San Rafael is considering a revision to section 5.40 of the Municipal Code that will prohibit recreational vehicles from parking on City streets. The ordinance, to be tentatively heard at the June 20th City Council meeting, will apply to RV’s and similar types of vehicles. Residents of San Rafael will be allowed to temporarily park their RV’s in front of their residence for a period of 24 hours to load/unload and for a period of up to 8 days for out of town visitors with RV’s through the issuance of a permit from the City.
In addition, the proposed ordinance will restrict oversized vehicles (defined as greater than 22 ft. in length or 7 ft. in width or 8 ft. in height) from parking on City streets for more than 1 hour unless actively loading or unloading. After one hour these vehicles will be required to leave the block face on which they are parked. These proposed changes are necessary because of the public health and safety concerns caused by these types of vehicles through restricted visibility and site distances, the illegal dumping of septic waste, trash and wastewater and the increasing number of complaints received concerning these vehicles. For more information or if you would like to provide any comments to staff as the ordinance is drafted please contact the Parking Services Manager at 415-458-5335.]2. Ritter House Relocation The City’s Director of Homeless, Planning and Outreach reported Ritter House management is still looking for a place to relocate. Their current criteria is to find a place that contains 7,000-8,000 square feet of usable space and is not in the Downtown or an residential area. 3. SMART Quiet Zone Update The City and SMART are in the process of getting the necessary regulatory approvals to implement Quiet Zones in San Rafael areas when the SMART train will start operating. Designation of a Quite Zone will prohibit SMART train operators from using their train horn, except in an emergency situation, within the designated Quite Zone. 4. Other Netflix is planning to film a television miniseries in San Rafael this summer. The series is based on the book “13 Reasons Why”. Filming is now planned to occur in the Downtown, Grestle Park and Sun Valley neighborhoods.