Captain Nicholas,
Recently you answered a question posed to you in The Sun regarding RV parking. My question is why then are these codes not being enforced? In Old Town there are several over 20 ft RVs parked for weeks at a time in the same spot, except for some street cleaning days, and are certainly on the street every night between the hours of 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Thank you for all you do,
Sincerely,
Elaine
Hi Elaine, thanks also for your question. The short answer is that we do enforce RV parking in all areas of the City.
There are a few local laws that pertain to motor homes. Anytime someone wishes to park an oversized vehicle on any City street overnight, they need to obtain an oversized vehicle permit from the Police Department. What’s overnight? Per this section of the Seal Beach Municipal Code it is between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. What’s oversized? A vehicle or combination of vehicles (car and trailer) that exceeds 20 feet in length or 90 inches in width.
Oversized vehicles cannot park on a city street unless they have a permit. However, our night watch officers regularly check on these motor homes and the majority are under 20 feet in length or have obtained a permit from us. If not, we issue them citations.
Also, vehicles cannot remain parked in one location for over 72 hours on any street in Seal Beach.
Our parking control officers regularly mark vehicles for 72 hours violations and issuing warnings. After 72 hours, cars that do not move are either cited or towed.
As far as sleeping in vehicles goes, it is also prohibited in Seal Beach between the hours of 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. Although we can and do enforce this section of our Municipal Code, we do so with understanding of each individual’s unique circumstances. I’ll give you an example. Once I contacted a young man sleeping in his car in Old Town overnight. The young man told me that he was a struggling college student who was working two jobs just to keep his head above water. He had recently lost his apartment and had nowhere else to go. He was faced with the tough decision to either sleep in his car or somewhere on the streets. I decided not to issue this student a ticket, and instead I connected him with resources for temporary housing and other social benefits.
As you can see, there are sometimes circumstances which require a level of compassion and understanding. Our job is not only to enforce the law, but more importantly to help all members of our community. All of our officers understand the concept of community-oriented policing, and that is one of the reasons I’m so proud to wear the Seal Beach Police patches and badge.
All that being written, if your quality of life is being negatively impacted, please call us. Our non-emergency number is (562) 594-7232. We’ll be happy to respond, contact the occupant of the vehicle (if any), and at the very least educate the individuals on our laws.
