(a) The city council hereby finds as follows:
(1) For sale signs in or on vehicles distract drivers, obstruct the visibility of drivers and pedestrians, and increase the risk of accidents. Because drivers may attempt not only to read a for sale sign in or on a vehicle but also to commit to memory or write down a phone number on such a sign, for sale signs pose a greater risk of accidents than do other types of signs that might be displayed in or on a parked vehicle.
(2) By distracting drivers and causing them to slow their vehicles, for sale signs in or on vehicles impede the flow of traffic and access to businesses, public buildings, and residences.
(3) Accidents and traffic congestion are significantly more likely to occur on major arterial roads and in the immediate vicinity of any intersections along those roads due to the heavier volume of traffic. The following streets, roads, and avenues are major arteries for traffic in the city and thus pose a greater risk of accidents:
(i) Ashley Avenue
(ii) Beamer Street
(iii) Cottonwood Street
(iv) Cross Street
(v) East Street
(vi) El Dorado Drive
(vii) Gibson Road
(viii) Gum Avenue
(ix) Kentucky Avenue
(x) Lincoln Avenue
(xi) Main Street
(xii) Matmor Road
(xiii) Road 102
(xiv) West Street
(4) For sale signs in or on vehicles are contrary to the aesthetic values of the city and contribute to visual blight.
(5) Selling vehicles by placing for sale signs in or on the vehicles is a common method used by traffickers in stolen vehicles and is also frequently used as a means for unlicensed automobile dealers to evade local regulation and to compete unfairly with legitimate, licensed dealers.
(6) California Vehicle Code Section 22651.9 provides express authority to cities to issue citations and subsequently remove vehicles parked on city streets or other public property for the primary purpose of advertising the sale of those vehicles.
(7) The city has an important and substantial interest in reducing accidents, removing impediments to the orderly flow of traffic, eliminating visual blight, preventing unlawful trafficking in stolen vehicles, and protecting licensed car dealers from unfair competition by establishing reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on the parking of vehicles on city streets for the primary purpose of advertising them for sale.
(b) For purposes of this section, “for sale sign” means any writing or marking indicating in any manner whatsoever that a vehicle is being offered or will be offered for sale. A for sale sign may be placed in or on a vehicle, may be constructed of any substance, and may consist of writing or markings in or directly on the surface of a vehicle.
(c) A peace officer, or any regularly employed and salaried employee of the city who is engaged in directing traffic or enforcing parking laws and regulations of the city, may issue a citation to any vehicle that is parked, for the primary purpose of advertising the vehicle for sale:
(1) on any of the streets, roads, or avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3); (2) within one hundred feet of an intersection on any of the streets, roads, or avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3); or (3) within any public parking lot that abuts any of the streets, roads, or avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3) or that is situated within one hundred feet of an intersection on any of the streets, roads, or avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3).
(d) A peace officer, or any regularly employed and salaried employee of the city who is engaged in directing traffic or enforcing parking laws and regulations of the city, may issue a citation and remove or order the removal of any vehicle that is parked, for the primary purpose of advertising the vehicle for sale: (1) on any of the streets, roads, and avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3); (2) within one hundred feet of an intersection on any of the streets, roads, or avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3); or (3) within any public parking lot that abuts any of the streets, roads, or avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3) or that is situated within one hundred feet of an intersection on any of the streets, roads, or avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3). However, the city shall not remove any vehicle pursuant to this subsection unless, within the past thirty days, a citation was issued pursuant to Section 14-6-4(c) for that vehicle, which citation contained a warning that an additional parking violation may result in the impoundment of the vehicle.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 14-6-4(d), no vehicle shall be removed by the city fewer than twenty-four hours after the issuance of an initial citation pursuant to Section 14-6-4(c).
(f) For purposes of Sections 14-6-4(c) and 14-6-4(d), a vehicle will be presumed to be parked “for the primary purpose of advertising the vehicle for sale” if:
(1) There is a for sale sign in or on the vehicle; and
(2) The vehicle is parked on one of the streets, roads, or avenues identified in Section 14-6-4(a)(3), or within one hundred feet of an intersection with any of the streets, roads, or avenues listed in Section 14-6-4(a)(3), for more than six consecutive hours. (Ord. No. 938, § 1; Ord. No. 1054, § 1; Ord. No. 1413, § 3.)