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West Covina council declines to require property owners to police tour-bus parking; education motion fails
Summary
Council considered whether to require proof of private-property permission for tour buses that load and unload on private lots along Azusa Avenue and Amar Road and voted 2-3 against directing staff to educate property owners and operators.
The West Covina City Council on April 15 considered complaints that tour buses routinely stop to load and unload on the east side of Azusa Avenue north of Amar Road, at times obstructing traffic and parking stalls. Mayor Pro Tem Sykes and other council members said they had observed the buses and wanted a clear, enforceable rule focused specifically on parking rather than relying on vehicle-code provisions aimed at moving violations.
Sykes said the issue should be framed as "no parking" and not left to the vehicle-code provisions that address driving. He urged the council to adopt a clearer local ordinance if state vehicle code proved inapplicable to parked buses. Councilmember Toma and others suggested starting with outreach: contact property owners and the bus companies to ask them to stop the practice before creating new regulations.
Mayor Hereford moved that staff be directed to educate the property owner at the Azusa/Amar area about bus parking and report back to council on responses. A second was offered, but on roll call the motion failed by a 2-3 vote: Spence No; Sykes No; Toma Aye; Warshaw No; Hereford Aye. Because the motion failed, council did not instruct staff to perform the outreach as a formal assignment.
Afterwards a subsequent motion to "receive and file" the staff report was also put to a roll-call vote and failed by the same 2-3 margin, leaving the issue on the record but with no additional city direction.
What failed
- Motion: Direct staff to educate property owner at Azusa Avenue and Amar Road and report back. - Mover: Mayor Hereford. Second: not specified. - Vote: Spence No; Sykes No; Toma Aye; Warshaw No; Hereford Aye. Outcome: failed, 2-3.
Council comments focused on balancing proactive enforcement and avoiding unnecessary regulation. Some members said criminal or traffic laws already provide enforcement tools for cases where buses impede traffic; others worried that relying on statutes aimed at moving violations could lose in court if phrased imprecisely as a parking issue.
No ordinance or other enforcement action was adopted at the meeting; councilmembers who favored outreach said they may pursue nonbinding contact with owners and operators outside of a formal council directive.
