Residents raise noise and street‑parking concerns; commissioners ask staff to pursue enforcement options

Two Lake Forest residents used the public‑comment period at the Aug. 4 Traffic and Parking Commission meeting to raise separate but related neighborhood concerns: audible pedestrian signal locator tones disturbing nearby residents, and lack of parking near parks compounded by long‑term vehicle storage and recreational vehicle (RV) parking.

Robert Tilson described repeated late‑night audible‑signal beeping near Malabar and High Ridge in Portola Hills, saying the tone wakes nearby residents. “I’m asking…and I think we’ll have some time to get together and figure out a way that we can stop that annoyance on the top of the hill,” Tilson said. Tran said the city has recently installed 18 new accessible pedestrian signal push buttons citywide and that tones and volumes can be adjusted; he encouraged residents to use the Lake Forest app to report specific locations so staff can adjust volumes based on time of day.

Sean Fletcher told commissioners that many Lake Forest parks rely on on‑street parking and said high‑density residential developments (HDRDs) and parked RVs exacerbate park parking shortages. He asked the city to consider banning RVs from overnight street parking and to increase enforcement near parks. “When the city hosts games and events at Tamarisk, parking would be difficult if not impossible,” Fletcher said, describing long‑term vehicle presence near Peachwood Park and Tamarisk Park.

City staff replied that the municipal code had been updated to limit RV parking to residential streets as defined by the California Vehicle Code and that enforcement of RV and abandoned‑vehicle complaints is handled by the sheriff’s department when resources allow. Tran said city parking enforcement staff currently cite permit parking and street‑sweeping violations only; expanding their authority to cite abandoned vehicles and RVs is under discussion. “There is a discussion to expand their opportunities to cite outside of those two specific enforcement opportunities that they currently have,” Tran said. The commission asked staff to bring the topic back for discussion; Tran agreed to place it on a future agenda for consideration.

Ending

Commissioners said they would consider asking the city to pursue broader parking enforcement and asked staff to return with options for the commission and council to consider.