Ask Paul...Can My Neighborhood Opt Out of Street Cleaning?

Dear Paul,

I believe street cleaning has become more of a ticket racket than an essential city service, and as a resident I'd like to know my options. Does our street or neighborhood have the option to waive mandatory street cleaning parking restrictions? When I lived in Glendale, the street cleaners drove around the parked cars and it all worked out fine - and that was even in the equestrian zone where there was actually something to clean. What choices do we have?

Thanks in advance for your answer

Justin Leavens
Sherman Oaks

Dear Justin,

The city’s street sweepers provide an essential duty to our city by not just cleaning leaves, broken glass and trash from the streets themselves, but also ensuring that litter and contaminants do not get washed into the stormwater system and then pollute the ocean.

However, it is possible for a neighborhood to opt out of the city’s street sweeping program, but there must be a clear consensus in the neighborhood. In order to remove a street from the street sweepers’ posted routes, two-thirds of all residents requesting removal of street sweeping signs must sign this petition.

Once the petition has met the minimum required signatures, you may send it to my district office [the fax number is (818) 755-7676], email us or drop it off at our district office and we can send it to the Department of Transportation to begin the process of removing the parking restrictions.

Needless to say, if a street is removed from the sweeping program, it will not be swept weekly and may not be swept more often than every two months. Generally, streets in the city of Los Angeles that don’t have posted street sweeping signs are put into a pool of boulevards to be cleaned. The Bureau of Street Services’ goal is to clean these streets at least once a month, but due to budget cuts and the natural growth of the city, sweeping frequencies have been stretched to two to three months or more.

It is true that on streets without posted street sweeping signs, sweepers will maneuver around cars or other obstacles as best they can, but frankly that is not an acceptable process. Doing so limits the extent to which that street can be thoroughly scrubbed. Debris can build up closer to the curb and oils or other vehicle contaminants that are not swept because of restricted access to the curb will eventually end up polluting the ocean and could subject the city to penalties under federal or state law. 

I hope this helps.