Monrovia : Parking Issue on Agenda

The yearlong controversy over overnight parking should be resolved at the City Council meeting Jan. 6 when council members are scheduled to vote on the second reading of an ordinance restricting parking to alternate sides of the street one day a week. This restriction will facilitate street cleaning.

In a special election last November, the voters turned down a binding measure that would have prohibited overnight parking but approved an advisory measure providing for the alternate-sides restriction.

The council, which earlier had rescinded a parking ban after an acrimonious public hearing, had hesitated at the compromise street-cleaning measure because of the number and cost of signs the city staff thought would be necessary. The issue was then placed on the ballot.

The city has received approval from Santa Anita Municipal Court to install larger but fewer signs than originally anticipated. About 1,500 signs will be needed at a cost of $50,000.

It will take six months to prepare and install the signs, said Carl Brooks, director of public works. Court approval of the signs was necessary because citations could not be issued if the information on the signs later was deemed inadequate, he said.