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East Palo Alto reports thousands of parking citations since April and sets RPP study timetable
Summary
City staff and contractor LAZ reported thousands of warnings and citations since April 15, with 165 red tags and four tows so far; staff will issue an RFP for a residential-permit-parking (RPP) utilization and fee study in September and expects implementation summer 2027. Residents pressed for more immediate enforcement, citation mapping and limits on ALPR use.
City staff and parking contractor LAZ told the council Tuesday that the city's new dedicated parking-enforcement effort, which moved from warnings into live citations mid-April, has issued thousands of notices and produced a high compliance rate after tagging.
LAZ on-site supervisor Edgar said field operations began April 15 with training and warnings; official citations started April 15. He reported a year-to-date total of 8,741 citations issued (warnings plus citations), 165 red abandoned-vehicle tags and only four vehicles towed after tagging, a compliance rate of about 97.6 percent on abandoned-vehicle notices.
"We responded to more than 145 calls for service and are working seven days a week," Edgar said.
City Senior Engineer Batul Zorro outlined the timeline for the residential-permit-parking program council adopted in March. Staff plans to procure a consultant to perform a parking-utilization study and fee study; staff expects to release the scope and recommend an award in September. Zorro said the consultant will conduct outreach and propose RPP boundaries, permit guidelines and a fee schedule, and staff anticipates returning with final adoption of program elements in mid-2027.
LAZ and staff discussed enforcement tools. Contractor representatives described automatic license-plate-recognition (ALPR) equipment as useful for abandoned-vehicle marking and for time-zone and permitted-district enforcement, but noted DMV access and privacy constraints. The contractor said ALPR would be deployed only for defined areas and specific time windows used to confirm a vehicle remained parked for the statutory abandonment period.
Public commenters raised concerns about contract cost, equity and privacy. Tenants, tenant advocates and some council members asked staff for citation maps and a breakdown of which vehicles cited were registered to addresses outside East Palo Alto. Several speakers urged the city to prioritize abandoned and nonresidential vehicles and to consider alternatives such as designated trailer or RV lots rather than repeated fines.
Councilmember questions focused on operational detail and next steps. Staff said the LAZ contract is a five-year contract totaling roughly $2.1 million (about $400,000 per year), that citation data by block and violation type can be supplied to council, and that staff will try to accelerate the schedule where possible though the utilization study and fee adoption must follow standard procurement and public-notice timelines.
Next steps: staff will release an RFP for the utilization and fee study, return in September with a recommended consultant and will provide council with citation-location breakdowns and additional enforcement detail upon request.
