Permit Requirements for Oversized Vehicles Coming Soon
Apr 07, 2024 06:29PM ● By Jeanne Fratello
A sign outside Pacific Elementary School in Manhattan Beach prohibits parking of oversized vehicles.
(Examples of oversized vehicles and trailers, via the city of Manhattan Beach.)
Data Shows Spike in Vehicles Used as Residences
Manhattan Beach has long had issues with limited parking, and in many cases its narrow streets and alleys make parking of oversized vehicles nearly impossible. But another subtext throughout the debate about oversized vehicles has been the fact that there have been
increasing numbers of unhoused individuals living in RVs across Los
Angeles County - and needing a place to park. Adding to the issue is the
recent clear-out of RVs along Jefferson Blvd. in Playa del Rey.
The
question of whether to create a permit process for Manhattan Beach
originally came up in City Council due to resident complaints about
increased sightings of RVs parking in the city.
Each year, the Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority
conducts a point-in-time count of homelessness across all tracts of Los
Angeles County, including Manhattan Beach. The survey covers
individuals experiencing homelessness, and also tallies the number of
makeshift shelters, tents, and vehicles in which a person appears to be
living.
MB News dug deeper into the data to find the official count for vehicles during each year's count. Manhattan Beach's 2018 homelessness survey showed 10 cars, 10 vans, and 10 RVs. By 2022, those numbers were all down to zero. However, in 2023, the data from Manhattan Beach had jumped back up to show 4 cars, 8 vans, and 1 camper.
(Important
note: In previous years, LAHSA used a formula to convert the number of
lived-in vehicles into an estimated number of unhoused people. In 2023,
LAHSA began reporting only the number of actual unhoused people
identified in the count. That is why the number of homeless individuals
reported for Manhattan Beach in 2023 was only 9 - less than the total
number of vehicles.)
