Back in 2011, the city relaxed its old parking rules, and declared it would no longer issue tickets to vehicles parked on driveway aprons and parkway strips between the street and sidewalk. Â This helped ease parking shortages in some denser city neighborhoods, but also led to many complaints of abuses such as landscape destruction, blocked sidewalks, and cars dripping hazadous substances into spaces meant for plants and trees.
Over the last few months, the city council has revisited the issue, and the result is a new ordinance, which will take effect on August 14. The ordinance prohibits “the stopping, standing or parking of a vehicle in the Parkway.” It also amends the definition of “parkway” to include “the area of the public right-of-way not intended for vehicular use between the sidewalk and the curb (or where no curb exists between the sidewalk and the public street), which the City has reserved for landscaping and utilities.”
The ordinance does not specifically mention driveway aprons, which are generally paved, have curb cuts and are neither landscaped nor the location of utilitiy equipment, but an LA Times story on June 14 provided clarification from Deputy City Attorney Michael Nagle, who confirmed:
“…drivers will be able to park on their own driveway aprons, provided their cars do not block the street or the sidewalk.
That is a requirement of the California Vehicle Code, not city law…”
Another LA Times story, published today, also confirms that apron parking will remain legal, as long as the car is fully located on the apron, with no wheels on the parkway, sidewalk or street.
So, under the new rules, this would be legal apron parking (because both the street and sidewalk remain clear)…
…but this would NOT be legal (because the car extends onto the sidewalk):
…and neither would this (because the car is on the landscaped portion of the parkway):
So if you live in a neighborhood where parkway and apron parking are common, you might want to start looking around for other options before next week.
