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The city of Mountain View announced that it will start enforcing parking rules on Saturday, Oct. 1, that were relaxed during the pandemic, including short-term parking zones and the citywide 72-hour parking limits.
“As of Saturday, Oct. 1, the city will enforce all timed parking limits in Mountain View,” the city wrote in a Sept. 26 statement. “This will include enforcement of 24-minute, 1-hour, 2-hour, 3-hour, and 5-hour parking zones as well as the citywide 72-hour parking limit, which prohibits vehicles from parking in the same spot on a public street for more than 72 hours.”
The 72-hour rule applies to all public streets regardless of signage and to all vehicles, regardless of type or size, the city said. Violating vehicles may be issued a warning, cited or towed.
“Education remains the focus,” city Chief Communications Officer Lenka Wright said of enforcement. “… Parking enforcement has always been and will continue to be accomplished through a combination of routine patrol activities and response to complaints.”
Also on Oct. 1, the city is slated to begin enforcing its Narrow Streets and Bike Lane ordinances, which prohibit oversized vehicles from parking on streets with bike lanes and streets that are 40 feet wide or narrower. The enforcement comes just weeks after the city announced it has reached a settlement agreement in a lawsuit challenging the ordinances.
“The 72-hour parking limit applies to all public streets, including streets where oversized vehicles are allowed to park, and all vehicles regardless of size,” Wright said. “… For the Narrow Streets and Bike Lane ordinances, the City will follow the terms set forth in the settlement agreement when taking enforcement action for violation of those ordinances.”
The Mountain View Parking Code:
SEC. 19.72. – Parking in excess of seventy-two (72) consecutive hours prohibited.
https://library.municode.com/ca/mountain_view/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIITHCO_CH19MOVETR_ARTVIIISTSTPA_DIV3STSTPAPRSPPL_S19.72PAEXSEO72COHOPR
Contains 3 statements of note:
1. No person who owns or has possession, custody, or control of any vehicle shall park such vehicles upon any street, alley or publicly owned parking lot for more than a consecutive period of seventy-two (72) hours.
2. To comply with this section, vehicles must be moved at least one thousand (1,000) feet (approximately two-tenths (2/10) of a mile), every three (3) days.
3. For the purposes of this section, the mileage reflected on the odometer of the subject vehicle shall be presumed to be an accurate indication of the distance that the vehicle has or has not been moved.
Based on this statements, is it implied or can this code be interpreted as follows ?
That any vehicle that is driven more than 1000 ft (two-tenths (2/10) of a mile), every three (3) days, and then parked in the same place, then said vehicle is not in violation of this parking code.
Have asked 2 Mountain View police officers, they were cautious and seem suspicious with above interpretation. Their caution perhaps do to not being entirely familiar with the code ????♂️.
Would be nice for all parties to know the proper legal interpretation of this code, as per the above interpretation.
@ Rouel,
Thanks for posting the ordinance here. My reading of the law is that the odometer reading is just one piece of evidence that they are allowed to consider when determining whether or not there is a parking violation. They can also consider photographs or license-plate records from an official source. And since the point of the law is to prevent the use of public streets for storing vehicles, I don’t think your solution would be accepted in court.