SANTA ANA : Trial Parking Permit District Approved

The City Council, at the request of residents, has approved a temporary parking permit district in the French Court neighborhood.

The council unanimously approved the trial program, which is designed to ease traffic, improve parking and reduce crime, at its regular meeting on Monday.

A slide show by city employees showed streets in the area jammed with cars. Some of the vehicles pictured blocked access to fire hydrants.

The area will include the neighborhood bounded by Main and 17th streets, the Santa Ana Freeway, and Washington Avenue. The program will be reviewed after six months and the council may make the district permanent at that time, transportation engineer Ruth Smith said after the meeting.

Smith said the number of cars parked overnight is expected to drop by more than 75%. Residents sought the permit district to improve safety. They said the rows of parked cars had long offered drug dealers and other criminals ready places to hide from police.

Under the plan, parking will be prohibited between midnight and 6 a.m., except for residents with permits. For $20, residents of single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes and four-unit homes will receive as many as three permits. Apartment dwellers will not be eligible, she said.

Permits will be available about Dec. 4, and the restriction will be enforced starting Jan. 3.