SANTA ANA : Permit-Parking Districts Set Up

The City Council this week voted unanimously to establish permit-parking districts in the city’s Flower Park and South Coast neighborhoods, both of which have been plagued with traffic-safety problems.

Residents of the neighborhoods requested permit parking in an effort to reduce the large number of non-residents who have been parking on their streets.

The Flower Park Neighborhood, which is just west of Civic Center Plaza and includes several government facilities, is a mix of single-family and multifamily homes.

Residents often are deprived of daytime parking because Civic Center employees and visitors use their streets, said James G. Ross, executive director of the city’s public works agency.

“Usually, parking districts are initiated by the neighborhood because they have some kind of parking overflow problem,” Ross said.

The boundaries for the Flower Park Permit Parking District are Civic Center Drive on the north, Flower Street on the east, First Street on the south and Bristol Street on the west. Streets and portions of streets in non-residential parts of the area will not require permit parking.

Residents will be issued one to two parking permits, which must be displayed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

Residents of the South Coast Neighborhood, a single-family residential area, have complained that much of the area’s street parking has been taken by residents and visitors of several large apartment and condominium developments nearby.

The boundaries of the South Coast parking district are the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks on the north, Flower Street on the east, Sunflower Avenue on the south, and Bristol Street on the west.

Parking permits are required in these areas 24 hours a day. Boundary streets are not part of the parking district.