It’s hard to imagine a silver lining these days, as the novel coronavirus broadens its sweep over the region.
But there are a few scattered about. Your commute, if you still have one, will certainly ease. Perhaps you’re spending more quality time with loved ones.
And you don’t have to worry so much about parking violations. Tickets issued on street-sweeping days and other infractions will not be enforced in many parts of Los Angeles County.
On Monday afternoon, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said parking tickets for street-sweeping violations would be suspended indefinitely.
The move follows similar announcements in other cities such as Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach where street sweeping is especially common to reduce polluted storm water runoff from reaching the ocean.
Garcetti also said the city would not ticket or tow abandoned vehicles. Parking fine increases will be frozen for 60 days and payment due dates will be extended, Garcetti said. For pickup and deliveries, parking time grace periods would be extended.
“There’s no need to worry about the financial costs for leaving your car at home while you practice social distancing,” Garcetti said.
But not all parking enforcement or street sweeping will stop, he said. The city will focus on street sweeping only around encampments or in areas where health and safety is a priority. Tickets will still be issued for parking in an area with a colored curb or in front of a fire hydrant.
In Hermosa Beach, the city still encouraged residents to move their cars for street sweeping if they could, but fines will not be issued while the city was still under a state of emergency.
The Hermosa Beach Police Department will also honor 2019 residential parking permits through March 31.
Garcetti kept things Garcetti-style hopeful during his address. He said rumors of a national lockdown were not true. He assured residents that the city would get through this time and warned against fraud and excessive hoarding.
Crime is down this year, so Garcetti said that half of the city’s detectives will work the streets to supplement patrol officers.
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva also announced some broad new measures related to the coronavirus outbreak being instituted primarily at the county jails as they plan to reduce the inmate population to limit the risk of exposures.
Also on Monday, Los Angeles County announced 25 new cases, bringing its total to 94 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. The county also released for the first time the general location of each case so far. Riverside County on Monday reported two deaths from COVID-19.
