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Police roll out daylighting enforcement under new state law; council endorses phased approach
Summary
Seaside Police began painting curb-daylighting zones and educating drivers after a new law requiring 20-foot visibility zones at crosswalks took effect Jan. 1; chief asked council to support coordinated painting with Public Works, warning and targeted citations to improve pedestrian safety.
Police Chief Nick Borges briefed the City Council on March 20 about local implementation of a new state daylighting law that requires vehicles to be kept back from crosswalks to provide visibility at intersections.
Borges said the law went into effect Jan. 1 and explained its effect: vehicles must not park within 20 feet of a crosswalk so drivers and pedestrians can see one another. To increase compliance and avoid reliance solely on citations, the Seaside Police parking-enforcement and parking-team members have begun painting curb-buffer zones at problem intersections and using low-cost barriers where appropriate. "This is about safety," Borges said. He showed photos of intersections where officers and public-works staff painted extended curb areas near school zones and other hotspots.
Council members asked about the enforcement pace and warning period. Councilmember Garcia Rizzo asked how long the department would issue warnings before citing violators; Borges said the department wants to be reasonable and has been educating the public and issuing warnings but will cite repeat offenders. Mayor Pro Tem Pacheco asked whether repainting work would be coordinated with scheduled paving and traffic-calming projects; Borges and staff said they are coordinating with Public Works to avoid duplication and to prioritize problem school zones such as Noche Buena and Military where visibility and collisions had been reported.
Several councilmembers and the chief stressed that the painted zones do not permanently remove parking in the city but instead implement a state safety requirement. "Based on that statement, we're not really reducing parking. We're following the law," Mayor Pro Tem Pacheco said.
Borges said some neighboring jurisdictions already issue citations in daylighting zones; Seaside will continue outreach and planned social-media videos, in English and Spanish, to explain the zone markings and the safety rationale. The council asked staff to continue timed and targeted outreach and to return with any recommended curb-painting schedule to coordinate with Public Works projects.
