75C - PH MOBILE FOOD VENDORS - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

[Exhibit 2 to RFCA] Findings in Support of the Proposed SAMC Mobile Vending Regulations Distance restrictions from schools, parks, community centers, and public playgrounds A majority of school children in Santa Ana walk to and from school, and the City continuously works to improve the safety of walking routes to school and other community destinations for the City's youth. In the opinion of Engineering staff, the presence of vending trucks in the vicinity of schools, parks, and community centers creates a hazardous condition by providing an attraction for children to cross streets at midblock locations. The concern is greatest at schools where those streets have driving lanes queued with cars carrying parents arriving to pickup or drop off their students. Traffic Engineering staff has observed occurrences of students crossing streets midblock to reach vending trucks. In addition, the gathering of customers waiting in line for vending trucks create the potential to block paths along sidewalks, thereby forcing children and other pedestrians to dangerously detour around the blocked sidewalk and out into the street in the travel path of vehicles. The size of vending trucks obstructs visibility to both vehicle drivers and pedestrians, resulting in potentially unsafe conditions under certain circumstances. Therefore, similar to specific locations whereby engineering staff use red curb markings to maintain visibility and reduce line of sight obstructions, it is the opinion of Traffic Engineering staff, that vending trucks should not stop to operate/conduct business at any location within 500' from a school, park, community center or public playground. Distance restrictions from a crosswalks and intersections Right of way for vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic at roadway intersections and crosswalk is controlled by a variety of devices, such as traffic signals, signage, and flashing beacon, which are typically placed behind the curb to the right of the vehicle path. For the traffic control devices to be effective, the signage must be visible a sufficient distance in advance of the intersection or crosswalk to allow vehicles to stop. The City recently approved Safe Mobility Santa Ana, which analyzed causes and correlation of traffic collisions for a ten year period. The analysis determined that over 50% of all pedestrian vs. motor vehicle collisions occurred at intersections. Often, these types of collisions are due to the motor vehicle driver not seeing, or otherwise not being aware of the pedestrian. Vending trucks, with their high profile, boxy shape, and lack of windows create an obstruction to visibility particularly near intersections and crosswalks where there is significant concentrations of vehicle and pedestrians. Therefore, similar to specific locations whereby engineering staff use red curb markings to maintain visibility and reduce line of sight obstructions, it is the opinion of Traffic Engineering 75C-13