Seal Beach residents could soon have an easier time parking on their residential streets as city officials look to overhaul local parking rules.
City officials are aiming at addressing long-standing complaints from residents dealing with spillover parking from nearby schools, businesses and short-term rentals, while also updating outdated city code to reflect modern parking technology.
The changes were approved in an initial vote during a council meeting last month, which could mean more residents get access to parking permits in an effort to curb neighborhood overflow.
However, the city council deleted the item from the agenda at its April 27 meeting, meaning the changes haven’t received final approval.
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At the center of the proposal is a new, formal framework that would allow neighborhoods beyond Old Town to request the city council review new residential parking permit programs.
Under the proposed system, neighborhoods seeking permit parking would need to organize and demonstrate demand.
Residents would have to submit a petition showing a 51% majority support in the area and document parking impacts before the city council could consider creating a permit zone.
“This has actually been in the works for quite some time,” parking consultant Julie Dixon said during the April 13 meeting. “It’s really about modernizing and doing an update to our municipal code.”
While the ordinance lays out the process, many of the details that would directly affect residents — including how many permits a household could have and how much they would cost — remain undecided and are expected to be considered by the council later.
Dixon, who gave a presentation during the meeting, said the goal is to design programs that pay for themselves, covering enforcement, signage and administrative costs. She also added that the annual permit could fall in the range of about $25 to $30.
During public comment, some residents raised concerns over how exactly the expanded parking permit program could work.
One speaker questioned whether new rules would eliminate the ability for people outside a neighborhood to obtain permits, something she said had previously allowed her to attend meetings and community events without risking a ticket.
Another resident pointed to the complexity of the proposed rules that balance enforcement with everyday needs, such as hosting guests or accommodating varying parking demand at night.
Resident Myra Romero described ongoing problems in her neighborhood, where she said parking has been overwhelmed by school traffic, sports events and nearby short-term rentals like Airbnbs.
“We have a huge problem because of the short-term rental that has been allowed on our block,” Romero said. “It’s very undesirable for us to have a party or to have any function whatsoever.”
Short-term rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo often face complaints from residents about attracting rowdy crowds, loud noise and an influx of parking and partying, especially in coastal towns.
[Read: More Orange County Cities Confront Airbnbs]
City officials acknowledged those concerns and said the updated framework is intended to give neighborhoods a clearer path to seek relief.
Beyond permit parking, the ordinance includes a series of technical updates, including rules for oversized vehicles that add a height restriction to existing limits. Officials said the changes reflect the rise in taller vans and converted vehicles.
The update also clarifies rules on curb markings, intersection visibility — known as daylighting — and enforcement of accessible parking spaces, where officials said the city previously relied more heavily on state law.
California’s Assembly Bill 413, prohibiting daylighting, took effect at the beginning of this year and bans people from parking a vehicle within 20 feet of a crosswalk.
The changes also included modernizing paid parking systems to newer options such as mobile payments and pay-by-text.
The code language referring to “paid parking zones” along Main Street and in other areas caused confusion among council members and residents, who said they feared it could signal a move toward paid street parking.
Dixon reiterated that no new paid parking was being proposed.
Still, the council moved to amend the wording to clarify the distinction, limiting the reference to paid parking zones to off-street municipal lots.
City officials said any future decision to introduce paid parking on streets like Main Street would require a separate city council vote, and because much of Seal Beach is in the coastal zone, approval from the California Coastal Commission.