The county has new proposals for parking in downtown Bolinas that address the shortcomings of a three-year-old overnight parking ban on downtown streets, though some activists say they would violate federal district court rulings against anti-homeless ordinances.
Measure X, a pilot program that barred oversized vehicles like R.V.s from parking at night on Wharf Road and Brighton and Park Avenues, will expire in November, and county officials say it produced disappointing results. Last month, they outlined a new proposal for resident parking permits to the board of the Bolinas Community Public Utility District.
The county hopes to safeguard overnight on-street parking for residents while allowing the public reasonable access to the beach. The first phase of the plan would establish overnight parking restrictions from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. on the residential side of Brighton Avenue for all vehicles that do not have a parking permit.
On the other side of Brighton, the county has proposed an ordinance that would prohibit vehicles larger than 22 feet from parking at any time. In 2019, citizens rejected the idea at a community meeting, pointing out that the problem was about turnover rate more than vehicle size.
Bruce Bowser, a member of BCPUD’s parking subcommittee, said he and other members are reconsidering it.
“We want to keep the coastal commission happy and make the beach accessible to everyone,” Mr. Bowser said. “People who park here for a long time are blocking access to those who want to access the beach and we don’t want a moving billboard in front of our homes.”
Supervisor Dennis Rodoni said the county hopes to have the permit parking plan in place before Bolinas feels its summer surge.
“The goal is to get this in place before Measure X expires because we don’t plan on renewing [it],” Supervisor Rodoni said. “I don’t think we’ll make spring, but there’s still a shot of making summer if we move quickly.”
Under the proposal, Brighton residents would be eligible for up to two permits per home, with additional permits granted on a case-by-case basis. The permits would be permanently affixed to vehicles, which would still be subject to universal parking requirements, including moving every 72 hours. The number of permits would not exceed 50 percent of the available parking spaces. No guest permits would be issued.
Carey Lando, a senior project planner with the Department of Public Works, said an optional phase two of the proposal would include Wharf Road. Such an addition would require further evaluation and tailoring to the specific needs of Wharf, and it would depend on the success of the Brighton program. Park Avenue would not be included.
According to Ms. Lando, the California Coastal Commission has reviewed the resident permit proposal and given informal approval. The next step is for BCPUD to create a memorandum of understanding with the Marin County Sheriff’s Office outlining that the district would issue the permits and the sheriff’s office would enforce them. Jennifer Blackman, the utility district’s general manager, said the board is in favor of the proposal but it is waiting to hear from the county if it can act as the agency that issues the permits.
Bolinas voters narrowly passed Measure X in 2018 with 52 percent support, and the county approved the pilot program’s rules the following year. The first phase barred vehicles other than cars, motorcycles and pickups from parking on the residential sides of Wharf, Park and Brighton during the nighttime hours of 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. It also established 20-minute parking zones for all vehicles in front of the Bolinas Market and the post office. A coastal permit for the program was approved on the condition that the Department of Public Works report back on whether the restrictions improved parking turnover, thus increasing public access to the beach.
During the pandemic, the surge of visitors looking to escape quarantine put a beta-stage Measure X to the test. The first annual report showed little impact on parking turnover and no change in the presence of oversized vehicles. So in 2021, the county introduced the second phase to include both sides of the streets. Though the program is on its way out, the county will keep the 20-minute parking rule in front of the store and post office.
Supervisor Rodoni said Measure X failed to provide the relief the county expected and that feedback from the community has been mostly negative. Last Wednesday, Lt. Heather Rock with the sheriff’s office explained part of the problem.
Deputies ceased enforcing vehicle habitation rules after two Ninth Circuit rulings in the last decade struck down municipal anti-camping ordinances: Desertain v. City of Los Angeles in 2014 and Martin v. Boise in 2018. This meant that anyone in an oversized vehicle could stick a note to their dash explaining that it was their primary home and avoid tickets and towing, Lt. Rock said.
The lieutenant said the new proposal is an attempt to balance the need for parking turnover for residents and visitors and would not “unduly limit locations for unhoused individuals.”
“In the event an individual experiencing homelessness is residing in a vehicle parked in that location, [deputies] would not move to tow the vehicle but would cite a vehicle in violation of the parking ordinance,” Lt. Rock wrote in an email. “A citation would be subject to adjudication and extenuating circumstances could be raised during that process.”
She added that the sheriff’s office would educate the community on the new rules for weeks before issuing any citations.
Yet Jenn Mallow, a member of the California Homeless Union’s Novato chapter, said prohibiting vehicles from parking overnight only prolongs an issue that needs to be solved from the ground up.
The union’s general counsel, Anthony Prince, asserted that ordinances such as those under consideration in Bolinas are a violation of both Ninth Circuit rulings. “These ordinances, whether new or already in existence or under some sort of disguise, are unlawful if there is no immediate, accessible, indoor shelter,” Mr. Prince said.
In 2016, the City of San Rafael banned R.V. parking in response to complaints about trash and drug use in areas that went largely unmonitored. A year later, the county passed an enabling ordinance that paved the way for unincorporated areas to ban oversized vehicles in residential neighborhoods.
“As the ordinance progressed west, the R.V.s followed,” Ms. Mallow said. “Unincorporated parts of Novato deal with over 100 people living in R.V.s, but because it’s so rural, the homeless crisis in West Marin is harder to track.”
A point-in-time count of homeless people in Marin taken last February showed 37 unsheltered homeless, 16 of whom were living in Bolinas. Yet many residents say that homeless people are not to blame for the parking congestion downtown, instead pointing to itinerant surfers and vagabonds.
One man who has been living in his Volkswagen on Brighton since late December said he had been there longer than most of the other vans, but that residents were welcoming—perhaps because his stay was just a pause during a road trip while he surfs and writes poetry.
A county poll of Brighton residents in May showed support for the parking permit proposal, while those who showed up to BCPUD’s meeting last month shared mixed feelings.
Geoff Drake, who lives on the Big Mesa, said that although Measure X has its flaws, it had made Brighton more livable.
“We notice the improvement every time we drive through town,” Mr. Drake said. “The residential side is not the concern [for us]; it’s the other side of the street. It seems that this will now be returned to the Wild West of trash, barbecue grills, disabled vehicles, human waste and motor homes.”
Two residents expressed concern about having rules for Brighton but none for Wharf Road, saying the latter would get inundated as a result.
Jeff McPhail, a Brighton resident, said he appreciates the county’s dedication to the issue but is worried that any new rules would go unenforced.
“We have a huge problem with camping on our street—both permanent and visitors who set up camp, put their chairs and barbecue in my yard,” he said. “It’s been a problem for a long time. I’m not sure exactly why something we spent so much time on is unenforceable. It seems silly.”
Other speakers were also dubious that deputies would enforce any new rules. Yet Supervisor Rodoni said the office has guaranteed enforcement, and Lt. Rock agreed that the county’s proposal is clear and enforceable by the two deputies who patrol the coast.