La Quinta Cove

6 Responses to “TALK BACK QUESTION-CARS & PARKING”

1. ECH Says:
   August 21st, 2008 at 5:43 am

   There are two houses on my street that really seem to mar the look of our entire street. They’ve got cars in the street. They’ve got cars parked half in their driveway with the back end in the street. They’ve got cars parked in front of my house as well as another neighbor’s house.

   These cars aren’t from visitors. These cars belong to that household. It doesn’t look like a parking lot. It looks like a junk yard.

2. Jane Johnson Says:
   August 21st, 2008 at 6:22 am

   I would be careful about getting what you wish for in this case. Traffic engineers will tell you that cars parked on the street are the most effective deterrent to speeding on city streets, because drivers automatically slow down at the sight of any obstruction in their way. One of the features I most like about LQ is the lack of speeding traffic on our streets. This is especially important for the sake of pedestrians, since our streets lack sidewalks, and children playing in the street. There is some speeding on arterials like Sinaloa, and some east-west streets like Colima and Nogales, but parked cars deter speeders, especially if parked on both sides of the street opposite one another.

   The earlier poster ECH seems mostly concerned about the appearance of cars parked on his street, and the manner in which they’re parked. If you need space for visitors iin front of your house, the first option is ask neighbors to move the car(s). If they’re blocking your driveway, I suspect there’s already an ordinance about that, and you could have the car towed.

   I’d hate to see the city spend money installing No Parking signs on our streets. And then there’s the question of enforcement: would it be on a complaint-only basis (where the parker is ticketed only if a neighbor phones the police), or on a more proactive basis? If the latter, this would be costly and distract the police from their more important crime-and-safety efforts.

   The cove is not a gated community. Streets are public. I always hate to see more prohibitions and restrictions imposed on our already circumscribed lifestyles when a more grass-roots community-based approach can work instead.

3. Coverunner Says:
   August 21st, 2008 at 6:25 am

   And what about those homes with a couple of rusty boats and a pile of junk in their driveway and front lawn? How is it possible that the City doesn’t see it? Nobody should be subjected to live next door to a junk yard!I think it is time to start a WALL OF SHAME and show this junk yards and call them out for what they are. I feel bad for those homeowners that are working hard to keep up their homes just to have people around like the ones ECH describes. There are no bad homes, just bad owners and renters.

4. HelloLQ Says:
   August 21st, 2008 at 8:18 am

   I lived in a community (not gated) where there was no parking and everyone obeyed the law. Who do we contact at the city to get this ball rolling? Does anyone know when the city questionnaires are coming around? To me speeding isn’t the issue…the resale value of the neighborhood is. There are other ways to stop speeding. Parked cars is not the answer.

5. LTD Says:
   August 21st, 2008 at 11:05 am

   I would like to add my input on the no parking issue.

   I sometimes feel like I am living in a car dealership.

   I know that there is an ordinance which says vehicles can not be parked in the same spot on the street for over 72 hours. This is hard for the city to enforce (Ibelieve there are only 7 code enforcement officers in La Quinta) but if you report it they will correct the situation.

   So I believe code enforcement is effective, and yes you do have to report violations. They actually do folow through.

   With that in mind I would like to suggest the city establish a no over night street parking
   law.

   I have seen this have wonderful results in some of LA County cities. It has improved safety on the street and kept down criminal elements. Plus it keeps curbs clear so when we do get a street sweeping vehicle through our area the streets are actually cleaned.

   I do not feel that we need to post signs ( major expense- we could use the money to put utility lines underground in the cove)-we as cove residents can help the city by reporting code violations-(your identity is not revealed to the violator.)

6. Lauren Says:
   August 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 am

   It would be great. But how would it be enforced without a homeowners association and rules agreed to in writing?

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