On Tuesday, the Brentwood City Council will discuss a future agenda item request regarding the new California Daylighting Law.
AB 413 was introduced by Assemblyman Alex Lee (D-San Jose) last February which aimed to increase visibility of pedestrians and bicyclist for drivers at crosswalks and intersections. Under the law, it prohibits vehicles from being stopped, left or parked within 20 feet of a marked crosswalk or intersection.
The daylighting law went into effect January 1, 2025 and many cities are now wrestling with the impact from reduced available parking across a city to police departments providing grace periods or issuing “warnings” while others have started issuing fines. Other cities will simply begin paining curbs red and have a phased approach such as Davis.
While it is not clear how many parking spots the City of Brentwood would lose due to the new law, the item returns to see if the council wants staff to spend more time on figuring out a way to “opt out” of the law at the request of Councilwoman Jovita Mendoza who made the request at its January 14 meeting.
“I need to see if we can opt out of it as there are avenues to do so,” said Mendoza at the Jan 14 meeting. “If we do this, its going to take away a lot of parking from our residents.”
Mendoza stated the impacts on the parking would be throughout the entire city where there is a crosswalk. Staff confirmed it would impact the entire city.
“If you can send a memo, can we opt out or is there any safety reasons why we should opt in for crosswalks. If we have to opt in, we can just paint them red because I think its going to be very difficult to enforce because folks are not going to understand what 20-feet is,” stated Mendoza.
According to the staff report, there are no provisions included for jurisdictions to “opt-out” of AB 413. However, the law does grant authority for local jurisdictions to adjust the restricted distances to “different” distances provided both of the following requirements are met:
- A local authority establishes the different distance by ordinance that includes a finding that the different distance is justified by established traffic safety standards.
- A local authority has marked the different distance at the intersection using paint or a sign.
A local authority may permit parking for bicycles or motorized scooters within 20 feet of a crosswalk, without the need for making any additional findings.
Other Cities:
- City of Lafayette – red curbs will be added before some crosswalks/intersections over time. They are prioritizing the removal of parking in the downtown area as well other locations with high pedestrian traffic, such as near schools. Citywide, additional marking or signs may be installed over time as part of repaving projects, capital improvement projects, or other traffic maintenance projects. However, according to State law, the parking restriction is in effect whether or not there are signs or markings — more info
- City of Martinez – The city began placing red bags on select parking meters in Martinez, to restrict parking within 20 feet of the approaching side of any marked or unmarked crosswalk, regardless of curb marking. Painted red curbs will be added before some crosswalks/intersections over time to comply with AB 413. The red bags currently being added to some parking meters are temporary as City crews work in the area. While temporary, the red bags indicate where parking restrictions are in effect currently. A citation may be given for parking before a crosswalk if there is a red curb, red bag, or other sign present — more info
- City of San Ramon – educational outreach at this point — more info
- City of Walnut Creek – educational outreach at this — More info
If You Go
Previous:
- Jan 17 – Martinez Begins “Daylighting” Law Implementation
- Jan 15 – Brentwood Could Look at “Opting Out” of New Daylighting Law
- Dec 27 – New California Laws Coming in 2025
