Alley Parking On Agenda For Glendora City Council

GLENDORA, CA — Recent concerns about cars parked in the city’s alleyways have prompted the Glendora City Council to take up the matter during its upcoming meeting Tuesday.

Cars parked in alleys could potentially block emergency vehicles from getting through and prevent waste collectors from emptying bins, city officials said. The city has received 57 complaints in the last five years related to cars parked in alleys.

The City Council will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m., and the meeting will be streamed on Zoom.

While alleys are considered a public right-of-way, the city has not applied the same level of enforcement on them as they do regular city streets and roads. Officials said three main issues have prevented them from enforcing parking restrictions in alleys.

One reason is that alleys are regularly cleaned and don't require cars to be moved for a street sweeper to come through. Another reason is that some alleys may be located on private property and not subject to enforcement, according to a city staff report.

A third reason is that that parking enforcement could punish families in homes that don't have readily available street parking.

“Many of these homes have a two-car garage; if a family has three or more vehicles, a car would need to park in the alley to remain close to the home,” the report read.

A community discussion held in late June on alley parking included presentations from the Los Angeles County Department and Athens Service, the city's waste collection provider.

While the fire department hasn't experienced any issues with driving through alleys with parked vehicles, Athens Services said several alleys have been "difficult to navigate," according to officials.