REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Al Zelinka, City Manager
VIA: Eric Parra, Chief of Police
PREPARED BY: Brian Smith, Police Lieutenant
Ingrid Ono, Senior Administrative Assistant
Subject:
title
Approve for introduction Ordinance No. 4293 Amending the Huntington Beach Municipal Code (HBMC) by adding new Chapter 10.82 regarding pedestrian use of center medians
body
Statement of Issue:
Staff recommends approving for introduction Ordinance No. 4293 to add HBMC Section 10.82. This new code section would prohibit persons from standing in roadway center medians and similar roadway features to improve pedestrian and traffic safety.
Financial Impact:
There is no fiscal impact.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
Approve for introduction Ordinance No. 4293, ”An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Huntington Beach Amending the Huntington Beach Municipal Code by Adding New Chapter 10.82 Entitled ‘Center Medians.’”
end
Alternative Action(s):
Do not approve, and direct staff accordingly.
Analysis:
On average, since 2019, traffic collisions in Huntington Beach have accounted for over 16 fatalities per year, 50% of which involve pedestrians.
Existing laws do not prevent pedestrians from loitering in center medians or similarly designed features, which can create safety hazards for motorist and pedestrians alike. In an effort to eliminate such hazards and increase safety, staff is proposing Ordinance No. 4293, which would prohibit persons from standing, sitting, or occupying any media, island, gore, landscape buffer, landscape strip, or splitter island for any purpose other than to lawfully cross any roadway. This Ordinance would not prohibit individuals from briefly standing on medians to permit safe crossing roadways, nor would it interfere with rights afforded to pedestrians under AB 2147, The Freedom to Walk Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2023.
If the Ordinance is approved for introduction, it will be returned to City Council for adoption on September 19, 2023 and become effective 30 days thereafter.
Environmental Status:
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(5), administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment do not constitute a project.
Strategic Plan Goal:
Financial Sustainability, Public Safety or Other
Attachment(s):
1. PowerPoint Presentation
2. Ordinance No. 4293