THOUSAND OAKS : City Council Seeks to Clarify Parking Law

Eager to clear up a fuzzy law that seems to criminalize driveway parking, the Thousand Oaks City Council has ordered staff to rewrite part of the Municipal Code.

The existing law bans parking in the “yard or other open space provided around any building,” a definition that officials said includes driveways.

Because so many residents park in driveways, the city has never prosecuted violators. But at Tuesday’s council meeting, Councilwoman Judy Lazar urged her colleagues to do away with the law “to clean up city codes . . . so it’s clear that while the driveway is part of the front-yard setback, it is certainly viable for parking.”

In a heated debate, Mayor Elois Zeanah and Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski opposed the proposed change. The law does not specifically ban driveway parking, they said, so a revision would be unnecessary.

“It’s somewhat absurd to want to change the Municipal Code,” Zukowski said. “Why are we creating work?”

Citing a complaint she received about a homeowner who routinely parks several cars in the driveway, Zeanah said an ambiguous law would allow city staff enough flexibility to crack down on problem cases.