City Traffic Commission - Regular Meeting

Thirteenth or surgeon? Yeah. Thirteenth twenty twenty five to order, and, we'll go on to item point 1.1, which is pledge of allegiance led by vice chair AJ Rekey.

Please stand. Put your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, AJ. We'll move on to the roll call. Francisco? We'll begin roll call. Vice Chair Ritchie? Here. Commissioner Barbado? Present. Commissioner Hamilton? Here. Commissioner Georges? Here. Commissioner Chavarria? Here. Commissioner Redding? Here. And Chair Feliz? Present as well. A quorum is present.

Great. Thank you. With that, we'll move on to Item two, which is the public comments. At this time, members of the public may address the Commission on matters not listed on the agenda item, which are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Commission, provided that no action may be taken on off agenda items unless authorized by law. Public comments will be limited to three minutes per speaker.

Do we have any comments outside? Seeing none, we'll go ahead and close that portion and we will bring it back to Let's see what are we on. Approval of minutes, which is 3.1, which is the approval of the minutes from our regular meeting held on 06/11/2025. We get a motion? Second. Or a motion. Perfect. So we have a first and a second, I believe. Go ahead and call for the vote. Commissioner Chevrier, seconded.

With that, the motion passes unanimously. Go back to the screen here. That we'll move on to new business, is item 4.1, which is a consideration of installation of a school bus loading zone on the North Side of East Jordan Avenue adjacent to Jordan Elementary School.

Good evening, Chairman and members of the Traffic Commission. Item 4.1 is for the request of a bus loading zone along the frontage of 4319 Jordan Avenue. In anticipation of the parking impacts related to a new crosswalk, Orange Unified School District proposed an adjustment to pick up and drop off operations that require the installation of a bus loading zone on Jordan Avenue. The 4,000 block of Jordan Avenue is located between Esplanade Street and Hughes Street and consists of single family residential and Jordan Elementary School. Currently, school buses enter the parking lot and circulate on-site for student drop off and pickup, while parents and caregivers rely on Jordan Avenue school frontage.

The site sketch illustrates the proposed installation of a new 75 foot bus loading zone that will be enforced from 7AM to 4PM school days only. Installing a bus loading zone would ensure the curbside space is available for school buses and should not impose any hardship on residents since the loading zone will remain available for general parking outside of school hours. In addition to the 75 foot bus loading zone, staff will install an additional 10 feet of red curb along the westerly exit of the driveway of Jordan Elementary to provide an increased buffer between the school buses and the exit driveway. Staff recommends the traffic commission approve request for a 75 foot bus loading zone along the frontage of Jordan Elementary. This concludes my report and I'm available to answer any questions at this time.

Great, thank you. Any questions for staff? Seeing none, I will go ahead and open the public portion. Are there any speakers on this item? Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close the public portion and bring it back to the commission.

Any questions? Anyone willing to entertain a motion? First and the second. I'll go ahead and call for the vote. That motion passes unanimously. With that, we'll move on to item 4.2, which is a consideration of installation of a school bus loading zone on the West Side of North Citrus, south of the driveway at 528 North Citrus.

Item 4.2 is for the request of a bus loading zone on the West Side of North Citrus Street, south of the driveway at 548 North Citrus Street. The city has received multiple requests for the restriction of curbside to accommodate a bus loading zone. The 500 block of North Citrus Street is situated North of Walnut and consists of multifamily housing throughout the street. Within the block, several families have school aged children with disabilities, all who attend OUSD and rely on the school bus for transportation. The residents have expressed concerns over the lack of curbside parking and a bus loading zone along Citrus Street due to the high demand of parking.

City staff consulted with OUSD, whose bus drivers confirmed experiencing operational challenges while picking up and dropping off children with special needs on Citrus Street. The site sketch illustrates the proposed installation of a bus loading zone along a 22 foot section of curb on the west side of Citrus Street. Without a designated bus loading zone, OUSD buses are sometimes forced to park in the street, requiring students and caregivers to navigate parked vehicles and active traffic. It should be noted that the bus loading zone will only be in effect Monday through Friday from 7AM to 4PM, August through June. Outside of those times, the space will be unrestricted and may be used for general parking.

The proposed changes is expected to significantly improve conditions for students with disabilities by allowing bus boarding and disembarking directly from the sidewalk. Staff recommends the traffic commission approve the request for a 22 foot bus loading zone along the west side of Citrus Street immediately south of the driveway for 548 North Citrus Street. This concludes my report, and I am available to answer any questions at this time.

Great, thank you. All right, at this moment I'll open the public portion. Are there any speakers? Sorry, had to switch over to the screen there. All right, first up we have Jennifer Reiner. And then after Jennifer, have You're going to pass? Okay. So up, we have John Holcomb.

Alright. Thank you guys for your time. On North Citrus Street from Walnut to the end of the cul de sac, it is 300 feet. There are fifty five two bedroom units on that street. We've had Orange PD called at least five times for parking disputes. We've had probably one to two times a week parking enforcement out there. The proposed bus stops at the end of the cul de sac right on that turn. It it's gonna make a huge hassle for parking. If you look at the Google satellite image you guys posted on that one, you can see it's the middle of the day. There's cars all parked up and down the street.

A lot of those multifamily units have anywhere from four to eight people in a two bedroom unit. You know, a lot of those aren't at work all day. It's it's constantly an issue with cars. Recently, California passed assembly bill four thirteen, which changed parking right 20 feet from any stop sign or crosswalk, which is at the end of the street, which would give you a loading zone, where they're not allowed to park anyways, but nobody's enforcing that no parking. I think it would be a good compromise.

In addition, students with the disabilities, if you put it in front of that house, would still have to traverse grass. I believe there's a young girl in a wheelchair on that street, so something else would have to be done. It it just doesn't seem a real feasible thing in the neighborhood taking away parking in addition to where parking already has to go away up at the end of the street. I think it would create a lot more problems on that 300 foot section of residential street than any benefit that would come to it. I think a decent compromise would be at the end of the street where it's already nobody's supposed to be parking on either side of that crosswalk for 20 feet.

I just it it's already the bus has to pull into the driveway to turn around anyways right there because it's a tiny cul de sac. It's not a thoroughfare. It seems a much more reasonable place to put it up by the thoroughfare where it's still safe. It would make it, in my opinion, safer for residents if you pull out on Citrus. Walnut is in notorious for people speeding. I'm sure the gentleman from Orange PD can tell you how many accidents happen there on Walnut when people especially at night because cars are parked right there. It would actually make it easier to pull out and make a left across traffic or a right, which would make it safer for the neighborhood anyways. That's all I got. Thank you. Great.

Thank you. Up next, we'll have Jennifer Reiner, and then after Jennifer, we'll have Greg oh, I don't know why your name is popping up then. All right. We'll go on to Jeffrey Hamilton and then Vivian Garcia.

Thank you. So, we've got four buses that actually come onto our street. I've been there for thirteen years, lived in that location. There's never been any issues with any of the kids whether the wheelchair accessible kid or student or any of the other students. The buses have always come closer to that stop sign at the end of the street to to pick up three of the stops out of the four.

The one fourth one that is actually the only stop in front of that 548 Citrus, the bus normally will park right there in inside the driveway, basically, and the kid walks on the driveway to the bus. And then the other three buses that come at separate times load the kids further down the street, and it's been like this for forever. I think that street only accommodates roughly 25 cars, again, to the the motion of how difficult it is to park on that street, not account for, you know, trying to have friends, family over any other guests. Also, the that loading zone, A lot of the cars don't move throughout the day, so it's it's basically like full packed consistently. The sweeper comes through once a week and all the cars are lined up starting at 04:45 in the morning where they'll start parking cars to navigate to reenter the street and then the cars sit there.

We have multiple calls into, you know, marked cars and cars that don't move per se for the seventy two hour period that's allotted in the city. I think again to that stop sign, new law for daylighting, it would make a lot more sense. I would motion I would second that about putting it at the end of the street, having that zone marked out since it's truly supposed to be a no parking zone anyways, which also carries that additional benefits of the safety of residents actually leaving that street and even the buses that are leaving that street. I think for the most part, that's all I've got. Thank you.

Thank you. Vivian Garcia, and then after Vivian, we have Maria Garcia.

Good afternoon. I want to tell you that we do appreciate you giving us the time to hear our concerns. I am one of four parents that are residents of that street and what we have seen is the parking, yes, it is an issue. We understand that. But we have seen that our children are being affected because there's no way the bus can park along the sidewalk.

We have to take our children in the middle of the street. Sometimes drivers are not exactly cautious. We have seen, you know, drivers passing by fast even though the bus has a stop sign. My son over there, he's an eloper. He runs towards traffic.

He has no idea what danger is, and this makes it very difficult for me as a parent to keep him safe. If the bus stop was to be closer to the Walnut Street, how are we going to hear the bus? The bus, nevertheless, has to go all the way to the end of the cul de sac and make a U-turn to get out of that street. That is there's no way around that. Now, what we have seen lately is that the small buses come, there's six children, five to six buses going from 6AM to nine a.

M. In the morning, which is peak traffic. And in the afternoon, it's from about 12:30 all the way to four, 04:30 p. M. It's an all day parade of buses dropping off, picking up children. Most of these children are smaller than mine. Mine is probably one of the oldest. And these other kids that unfortunately were unable to come, they're autistic and they run and they have no sense of danger. They just take off. This is why we are asking to be considered for this bus stop.

I have witnessed myself, a big bus, coming to make a U-turn and by accident scratch a vehicle that was parked on the side. And I understand how difficult it must be for this driver to maneuver in such a small space. And unfortunately, you know, that happens. So this is not only a petition to save our children, but also to keep our neighbors' vehicles safe, because we understand that an accident can happen. It's not just for us, it's for our children and for the neighbors.

Thank you. Thank you, Vivian. Maria? We went a little loud over to there. Okay.

Hello. Thank you so much for your opportunity. And I wonder I just wanted to say that my my neighbor here, my my is autistic and also have been complaining that some this new year, this coming this new year is gonna come seven buses to our home. So, it's been difficult because one, the parking of the person is parking in the driveway making difficult to the bus to go around. That caused these incidents that happened when the one bus crashed in another car in the to the corner.

And also, the most important thing that I can say is some neighbors is getting very rude with the with the bus and getting, you know, some saying some bad words to them to let them know they have to hurry up. As you see, our kids don't have time to go into the buses. So they need time, need space, and also, there is a little bit a small a small space than the bus can turn around. And also, my daughter runs and the person who's coming to rush the people to say, I'm I'm not the I'm not the buses. It's getting like a rushing and getting frustrated to my daughter and all the kids are are around.

And the only thing I just wanted to please it's very difficult to us as mom to get the support for where I live. It's all that I can say. Thank you so much.

Great. Thank you. Are there any other speakers on this item? Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close the public portion and bring it back to the commission.

Chair, I do have a question. Staff, what's why the 22 feet versus like a 23 feet for that bus loading zone?

We actually circulated this exact same exhibit with the OUSD, and they approved the 22 feet. And normally, a parking stall is 22 feet.

So the 22 is adequate for for a bus? Mhmm. That size bus that they're looking for?

Yeah. It's not like the big school buses. It's the the littler school buses.

Okay, thank you.

Any

other questions? Go ahead. A question for staff, so similar question. Do we know how many parking spots are permanently removed? So

the 22 feet of loading of bus loading zone would translate into one spot and it's only during school days during the daytime. So during the nights and weekends, it can still be used for parking.

Thank you. Go ahead, question.

Yeah, I know one of the speakers was asking about the feasibility of putting the loading zone in the 20 foot area. I would assume, but that's why I have to ask staff, that the state of California probably wouldn't allow an overlap on a zone like that?

Yes, Mr. Commissioner, you're correct. AB four thirteen prohibits the stopping, standing or parking within that daylighting area. So a bus could not it would be considered stop and in

violation Yes. Of

Okay. I would assume that. I just wanted to clarify that. Okay. Thank you.

Any other questions? Anyone make a motion? I think I think for me, I'm not a big fan of this 22 foot being right directly on the radius. I think there's potential for the bus to to do you know, it's gonna stick out. Right?

If it was more in the flat area, I I kind of understand why it was done that way. Right? It makes it easiest for the turnaround. But I am having a little bit of question about that location. I am happy to see that this would be, you know, August to June, seven 7AM to 4PM. Just a question for staff. Is there an opportunity to maybe narrow that time frame down so there's a little bit of time during like the lunch time to do that? I know I've seen that in the past.

Mr. Chairman.

Bye.

I forgot the question. Yeah, okay, so modifying the times, we did actually consider reducing the effective hours just to minimize the impacts maybe down to like an hour or so in the morning, an hour or so in the afternoon. I think one of the potential challenges with that is if there is someone who overstays, it will be difficult to enforce. And so if we had a larger window, I think we reduced that potential for conflict. But certainly the commission would have the latitude to reduce those hours and I think if that were to occur, it would put a lot more pressure on the PD to consistently and effectively enforce.

Sorry, To add on to Larry's, I think the hours were also done that way for minimum days, because minimum days they do get out a little bit earlier.

On Wednesdays?

Yeah. Unfortunately,

we can't take any comments from the public at this time.

I know this this is a tough tough one. I think everyone agrees we wanna walk away with a bus stop on the street. It's just it's just a funky shape. My my only saving grace with this that I I would move forward with this is that it's it's on that it's on that corner, which is not great. But another way to look at it too is whether it's a fire truck or a vehicle that's a little bit longer, it makes it easier for them to make that turn coming around the cul de sac. That's the only, I'll say, positive beyond having it. So I'm not jazzed where it is, but for the sake of everyone's pretty quiet, so I'll I'll I'll start it off. I'll make a motion to approve it as as as presented.

And we have a second. I'd like to propose a substitute motion that we would relocate that to the more flat part adjacent to that section. I'll second that. Commissioner Scherer is going to second that.

I'll second that. Yes.

Alright. With that, we'll go ahead and call

Chairman Adam.

Yes.

When you're saying the flat part, are you

Starting at where the curb return is from that radius. Like The engine? Yeah. Thank you. Yes. That's the word I was looking for in my head.

Okay. Got it. Thank you.

There's a question on that. If we did that, will we lose additional parking No. Places because we're not taking advantage of the curve? It's 22 feet again.

Chairman, I have a question. So does that mean that in that tangent that straight line, there's a car parked behind in front. And so the bus would have to kind of maneuver and circulate into that curb space?

Correct. I I think if we're if we are concerned about that, we could probably extend that a few additional feet. And I'd be willing to amend my motion to include an How many feet would you consider? At least an additional three feet. I support that. It's 25 feet? I'd amend my motion for that.

Okay.

You still second that? Still second, yes. Okay. Go ahead and call for the vote.

Sorry, one thing. We had gotten approval from OUSD for the location because of where the families live. In terms of moving it, I would have to go back to OUSD, present them a new exhibit, and just make sure they're Okay with the new location. I know it's just a couple of feet.

I'm unaware that OUSD would have jurisdiction over this.

So, yes, Mr. Chairman, I think OUSD bus drivers with your amended motion would find significant benefit compared to existing conditions and even if it were not ideal for them, I think they would agree that it's more functional for their operations.

Thank you.

Now I'll call for the vote. With that, the motion passes unanimously. All right. With that, we'll move to item 4.3, which is a request for permit parking on the West Side of North Pixley Street from Chapman Avenue to Maple Avenue, both sides of North Parker from Chapman Avenue to Maple Avenue, excluding non residential frontages.

And then, Mr. Chair, before we proceed, I'm going to recuse myself from this item. We have a commercial listing on the corner of Pixley And Maple Avenue.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Item 4.3 is a request to implement permit parking on both sides of Parker Street and the West side of Pigley Street. In 2024, a conditional use permit was issued for the development of a church and coffee house on the property along Chapman Avenue between Parker Street and Pixley Street. Back when the development of the coffee house was presented to City Council, it was suggested that Parker And Pixley Street should be considered for permit parking if future demands were problematic for the residents. Following the recent opening of the nearby Coffee House and Church, residents on Parker And Pixley Street have experienced an increase in demand for on street parking along their frontage and formally requested we initiate the process for permit parking. Staff mailed out petitions to the residents on Parker And Pixley Street.

The table above shows both Parker Street and Pixley Street exceeded the 55% in favor threshold. The aerial illustrates the proposed permit parking limits on Parker Street and the West Side Of Pixley Street based on the request and petition results. Staff recommends the Traffic Commission approve the request for permit parking on both sides of Parker Street and the West Side Of Pixie Street and forward this on to the City Council for final action. This concludes my report, and I am available to answer any questions at this time.

Great. Thank you. Any questions for staff at the current moment?

Yeah. I have a question on that. On the I see this map here.

You're welcome. There

it is. On Pixley, on the East Side Of Pixley, there's a ADA ramp. Is that still applicable under the CUP for that project or for that location? There's a blue

Can you

verify if that's still needed as an ADA access?

I do not know if it's still needed, but we can reach out to the business and see if it's still needed.

I'm asking the question because if we could put additional one hour parking there, might be beneficial as well. Yeah.

That wouldn't be able to be part of this motion. We would have to direct staff to look at that and bring it back to us. And as part of that, I think I'm going to just go ahead and say that probably going to ask staff to take a look at putting timed parking also on Parker on that South section there as well. If staff can bring that back and as well as finding out I know that business at 541 recently is relocated. I'm trying to remember, think I was on the commission at the time when that one was approved as part of a process there for that business. I'd ask staff to look into that as well and bring that back to us. Absolutely, Mr. Chair. Great. Thank you.

All right. Before we get any further, everybody okay with me opening up to public comments on this portion? Great. All right. With that, we'll go ahead and open the public comments. First up, we have Jake Pullman. And then up next, we have Mr. Clark.

So my name is Jake. I live in North Parker, and I've lived there for six years. And as a longtime resident, I guess I'll call myself, I'm happy to see that there's some successful businesses coming in and looking forward to seeing their success blossom. But at the the same time, I I don't want to sacrifice any more parking issues that we've had prior to these businesses coming in. It was always a difficult battle to obtain a parking spot.

The new businesses, I've seen quite an influx of traffic coming in, especially the coffee shop come up and down the street. So to me, that creates a little bit of a safety issue. I have a two year old child with with an increase of traffic. He, unfortunately, is not darted out on the street yet, but that day hopefully never comes. But with more cars, danger grows.

Even before the businesses, the parking was difficult. But in fairness to the residents, like the idea of permit parking to be able to not have to fight every day when I get home from work to see where I'm gonna park.

That's it. Thanks. Thank you. Up next is Michael Clark, and then up after Michael is Pat Harrington. Hetherton. Thank you. We'd have to charge you later.

Hi. I am associated with 128 North Pixley, and I've been there for fourteen years. And most weeks, there's a problem because we have overflow parking from the station, and that always caused a problem during the week. And it was surprising to me that they would it's a little bit closer, but not that much more in the parking. It seems to be adequate over there, but they still park on the street. But that has always been a challenge. But the challenge has gotten much worse with the new businesses coming into the area. You know, the green zone is not a one hour parking. It's a forever parking now. They park in the red zone.

They even park in the alleyway. If there's any kind of problem, they're not gonna be able to get through the alleyway. And it just seems to me that when you come home from work, you shouldn't have to park a block or two away to to be at your residence. Residence. So it's a continuous problem. And with the new businesses, there's also new businesses that open up just across the way, which I I think there had something to do with, to achieve reality. But at the end of the day, it's just a real problem. And the residents should have a right to at least park close to their home. Thank you. Pat?

My name is Pat Hetherington. I live at 139 North Parker. I've been there since 1978. Parking's always been an issue on our street. Back in the '80s, I had a neighbor who had 16 vehicles, and I had a better chance of getting a spot then than I do now. Since the Cedar House has opened, there's no parking. Cars start circling around 07:30 in the morning to get their cup of coffee, and it's nonstop. If we move, we've got one or two cars waiting to take our spot. They're parking on the red curb on North Pixley. They park on the one hour zone all day long.

I don't know if there's employees or not, but they do go to the coffee shop. They double park and say, we'll be right back. We're just going to grab a cup of coffee. No, you can't do that. They're parking in the dentist office. She's put a sign up, no Cedar House parking. They're parking in the used car lot. He's had altercations with customers wanting to use his lot for them to park. It's been a nightmare. Pastor Pete, great guy. He did a wonderful job on that building. It's beautiful. But when we came here last year in front of city council and asked we voiced our concerns about this, he even supported permit parking. So I don't see him here tonight to oppose it. I'm hoping that you all support it.

We really do need it. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Are there any other speakers that want to speak on this item? If you want to speak on this item, grab a card from Francisco there and then state your name and then make sure you give that card back to him.

Do you

want me to do this first?

That's fine. Just make sure you give him the card when

you're done. Hi. Think I emailed you all in advance. Karen Freeman, live on Pixley. Really just reiterating what Pat said.

I have two young kids, three and five, and the amount of time I've spent in the last two months trying to educate them on, you know, being aware and walking past the alley, but it really is beyond being a safety concern. It's it's just really disruptive that, you know, double parking, parking across driveways. One time actually, I think it was more than one occasion where during trash day, they moved our trash can onto the curb so it didn't get picked up, so that they could then take that as their parking spot. So my concern mainly is safety, but also it just feels very disrespectful to the people who live there and who are trying to, you know, raise their kids and have a safe environment. So that's all I have to say.

Great. Thank you.

Make sure you

fill that card out for Francisco there. Can you just state your name for us since we don't have a card quite yet?

My name is Jeremy Chadwick. I live at 145 North Parker Street. I've been there for I think I purchased the home in 2008, so about eighteen years ago. And I purchased it from my grandparents who had it built in 1945, so so we've been there quite a while. And in that time, we've seen, obviously, changes, right, to the neighbourhood, to businesses, to the major streets. I wrote a little something, so I'm just going to read off of this, if you don't mind. I'm here to express, first of all, my thanks to you for coming out. I understand some of you were actually out on the street, I think, in the last week or two, actually evaluating it, so that's important. It shows that you're taking an effort and actually taking this serious and evaluating. So thanks for that.

I've personally witnessed an increased strain on parking available in our area. In recent years, the neighborhood has experienced significant uptick in traffic and parked vehicles due to growth to new nearby businesses. Most recently, that includes the Cedar House, which I'm sure some of you probably are familiar with and I mentioned it earlier. During that meeting that we had with them when they were going through the Planning Commission, they did support also permit parking in our area. They said that they would promote with their you know, the people coming there to park over at the train station, and we have not seen that.

Instead, we see continual traffic back and forth all day long. I do work from home, you know, one week every other week, and I see an enormous amount of foot traffic, which is great for the businesses. We do support those businesses, and we we'd like to see growth. I understand that the city does need revenue and revenue is important, right, especially to us taxpayers. So we would like to see them succeed, but I I think, permit parking would greatly help in our area. We have seen cars double parked as I mentioned before. I've had cars across my driveway. I've seen arguments amongst residents, verbal altercations the police have been out. It's a little much. And I think permit parking would be a great benefit.

In addition to that, there are other businesses being opened soon. I did see that the business over there off of Pixley that recently relocated is going be open to a new business soon. It looks like it's going to be an exercise studio of some sort, and they're going to need parking. So I guess that's about all I have. So thank you for your time. And again, thanks for coming out and actually seeing the neighborhood. We appreciate it.

Thank you. Last call. Anyone else? Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close the public portion and bring it back to the commission. Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

We have a first. Second. We have a second. Screen goggles. Didn't call for the vote, but I'll call for it.

With that, the motion passes unanimously. So we did approve it. All right. With that, I want to say we will call for the adjournment of this meeting. And our next meeting will be held on 10/08/2025 at 05:30PM in the chamber. Thank you everyone.