Traffic safety committee delays Smith Avenue parking restriction, recommends citywide approach

The Sherwood Traffic Safety Committee on a citizen request to restrict parking on Smith Avenue near the Meineke/Hillside corner and decided to table the item for one month while staff gathers applicable data and drafts a citywide recommendation to the City Council. Committee members said parked cars near the corner reduce sight lines and can make left turns difficult; they repeatedly referenced state parking distances — 20 feet from crosswalks and 50 feet from traffic-control devices — as the baseline for action.

The request (2025-017) was raised during the committee's public comment period; a resident described vehicles parked close to the corner that, in their view, obstruct turning drivers and sight lines. Committee members debated whether the issue is unique to the reported location or a recurring, citywide pattern that would require consistent rules and enforcement. Several members said the parking-pattern problem — narrow residential streets with cars parked on both sides — appears in multiple neighborhoods, including Woodhaven, Pinehurst and Gilwood Drive, so applying an ad hoc restriction at one intersection could merely shift the problem to other streets.

Committee members noted Oregon statutory distances discussed in the meeting: 20 feet from crosswalks and 50 feet from stop signs or other traffic-control devices. They discussed practical options including: installing “no parking” signage marking the statutory buffer; painting yellow curbs at critical corners; deploying temporary sandwich-board notices to educate drivers; and recommending a council-led, citywide parking policy to avoid piecemeal precedents. Several members pressed for data and GIS mapping to show where similar conditions exist before issuing on-the-ground changes.

Staff said the committee's prior packet materials dating to 2023 are on the city GIS system but that portions of the older website content are currently unavailable. Staff and members agreed additional field data and mapping should inform any recommendation. One member suggested a 50-foot buffer from the stop sign would likely resolve roughly 80% of the reported conflicts at the specific location; others emphasized enforcement and the trade-off of displacing parked cars onto neighboring streets. The committee also discussed low-cost education and outreach as an interim step — including targeted door-knocking or temporary signage — and weighed the cost of painting curbs versus leaving enforcement to existing parking rules.

Action taken: a committee member made a motion to table the Smith Avenue request for one month so staff can collect targeted data, add the location to the GIS map and prepare a draft recommendation for City Council. The motion was seconded and the item was left on the committee’s pending list for follow-up at the next meeting. The committee recorded that formal changes to curb markings or parking restrictions would require City Council action.

The committee directed staff to: (1) document the Smith Avenue location in the city’s GIS and packet system; (2) measure sight lines and parking distances against the 20-foot/50-foot statutory thresholds; (3) evaluate low-cost education/outreach and temporary signage as an interim measure; and (4) prepare a draft, citywide parking-response standard for Council consideration if similar complaints persist elsewhere. Staff said they will return the packet and collected data at the next monthly meeting for further deliberation.

Ending: The committee emphasized that the city’s statutory parking distances provide the legal baseline for any physical restriction, and that consistent, citywide guidance is preferable to one-off curb paints or signs that could create a patchwork of rules across neighborhoods. The Smith Avenue item will return next month with staff analysis and GIS evidence to support a recommended path forward.