MOUNTAIN VIEW — It’s been more than a year since a group of people living in RVs and oversized vehicles in the city sued to stop a new parking ban with the potential to displace hundreds of people.
And, so far, it appears to be working as the ban has yet to be enforced — and it remains unclear when it will actually go in effect.
Days before the first “no parking” signs were set to go up across much of the city to comply with a ballot measure that voters passed in 2020, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and the ACLU of Northern California filed a class-action lawsuit in July 2021, calling Mountain View’s parking ban on RVs and oversized vehicles “unconstitutional” and “inhumane.”
Since then, the lawsuit — which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California by six plaintiffs on behalf of all people who live in RVs and other oversized vehicles — has continued on through the courts, and barring a settlement, the trial isn’t expected until August 2023.
At the end of June, the court for the third time agreed to stay enforcement on the RV ban until the end o next month. That stay in enforcement came just weeks after the Mountain View council approved several new parking regulations to further limit where oversized vehicles can park while opening new areas for relocation once the stay on enforcement expires.
“The city of Mountain View is continuing settlement negotiations with the plaintiffs over the voter-approved Narrow Streets Ordinance and Bike Lane Ordinance,” said Mountain View spokeswoman Lenka Wright. “With the litigation being on hold, the city has agreed not to ticket or tow oversized vehicles under these ordinances through Aug. 30, 2022. In the meantime, the City looks forward to continuing to work with the plaintiffs on the resolution of the Navarro v. City of Mountain View lawsuit.”
It’s unknown whether the parties will reach a settlement before a trial scheduled for August 2023 begins, but Bill Freeman of the ACLU of Northern California said he’s hopeful the issue will be formally resolved before then.
“The parties are hopeful that they can reach an agreement that serves everyone’s needs, and that basically satisfied the needs of both the city and its unhoused RV residents,” Freeman said.
In 2019, after years of complaints from some Mountain View residents, the city council adopted an ordinance banning oversized vehicles and RVs from 444 of the city’s 525 total streets. Spurred by the city’s fair housing proponents, the ordinance was temporarily suspended after a successful petition forced the ordinance on the November 2020 ballot as Measure C.
With about 57% of the vote in favor, Mountain View residents passed the ballot measure in November, and Mountain View in just weeks moved swiftly to enforce the ban by summer 2021. The first “no parking” signs were set to be put up in July last year in the city’s northwest side at the cost of nearly $1 million, alarming residents who feared being displaced.
Though the RV ban prohibits oversize vehicles from 83% of the city’s streets, another ban on parking oversize vehicles in streets with bike lanes leaves about 90% of Mountain View streets unavailable to RV residents. The suit says Mountain View enacted the ban “under the pretext of ‘traffic safety’ in order to expel indigent populations” after years of increased enforcement of parking laws that target the city’s vehicle residents.
After changes were made in May, the council changed the number of streets included in the narrow streets parking ban to include three dozen more street segments. The areas where RV residents congregate are largely on Crisanto Street, Continental Circle, and Terra Bella/ San Leandro Streets near Highway 101.
Those areas account for about 120 inhabited RVs, and there are a couple dozen more spread around the city.
But while the changes mean more streets are subject to RV ban regulations, the council has also recommended getting rid of nearly all of the city’s overnight parking restrictions to open up more streets in commercial and industrial areas for parking of RVs overnight.
“In the meantime, litigation over the narrow streets and bike lane ordinances remains on hold while settlement negotiations continue. In compliance with the stipulated agreement, the city will not ticket or tow oversized vehicles for failing to comply with the Narrow Streets or bike lane ordinances through Aug. 30, 2022,” the city said in a statement.
Source: www.mercurynews.com