La Verne : Parking Ban Enforcement

Residents and visitors in two exclusive hillside neighborhoods should be wary of parking their cars on the street overnight after a unanimous City Council vote that put the areas’ private roadways under authority of state and local laws.

Police could not enforce parking restrictions because of the neighborhoods’ private property status, so a resolution to apply laws in the California Vehicle Code and the La Verne Municipal Code to the gated communities of Mountain Springs Estates and Sierra La Verne--totaling more than 200 homes--was sought by homeowners associations.

Residents sparred verbally during a drawn-out debate on the issue Tuesday. Barbara Kastner, president of the Mountain Springs Estates’ Assn., told the council that a vast majority of residents favored bringing in local police to enforce an overnight street parking ban.

But resident William Ritner disagreed, saying passage of the resolution could bring a broad range of police traffic patrols--including speed traps and drunk-driving checkpoints--in addition to parking enforcement. Although Mayor Jon Blickenstaff and other city officials downplayed that possibility, Ritner, who is a lawyer, said he will consider taking the Mountain Springs Estates’ Assn. to court over the issue.