SAN CLEMENTE : All Future Parking Spaces to Be One Size

The City Council last week voted to require that all future parking lots in the city have uniform parking spaces that are 8 1/2 feet wide and 18 feet long and are double-striped to provide more room between cars.

Lots in the city now contain either “compact” parking spaces, 7 1/2 feet wide and 17 feet long, or standard spaces that are nine feet wide and 19 feet long. The measure approved by the council by a vote of 3 to 1 will eliminate the distinction, making all spaces one size.

The new rules will apply only to future developments and will not affect existing parking lots. But council members said they are hopeful that the new size regulation is a step toward improving all commercial parking throughout the city, including existing spaces.

“I think this is a prudent move,” said councilman Scott Diehl. “I know that my own doors on my van have been chipped when parked in tight spaces. The tighter spaces were something we tried a few years ago that didn’t work.”

Councilman Thomas Lorch voted against the new size for the parking spaces and said he preferred a nine-foot width.

“I don’t think 8 1/2 feet across the board is good,” Lorch said. “It’s fine for restaurants but not for supermarkets, where there is loading and unloading.”

The new space size will be “adequate for all cars, even large vans,” said John T. Tengdin, chairman of the city’s Planning Commission. He added that the commission will next be discussing ways to deal with problems of existing parking lots in the city.