After decades of complaints about parking and street sweeping problems, the Rossmoor Community Services District will likely get relief.
The Rossmoor Community Services District approved a small increase in their public works budget at a special meeting this week to facilitate an agreement announced by 2nd district supervisor Katrina Foley.
Foley’s office released a statement in collaboration with Joe Mendoza, General Manager of the RCSD, “in response to the unanimous support by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to address the issue of total street parking closures during street sweeping in the unincorporated community of Rossmoor.”
Since taking office less than a year ago, Foley personally has been visible in the Rossmoor community, attending meetings and sending aides to work with the staff.
“After taking office in March of 2021 I learned that Rossmoor residents are currently forced to park outside their neighborhoods when street sweeping occurs due to total street parking closures”, said Foley in the statement.
“For many years community members asked that street sweeping occur on alternate days so they are not forced to park outside of their neighborhoods,” she said.
“I worked directly with the Rossmoor Community Services District and Orange County Public Works to finally find a solution. The Orange County Board of Supervisors recently approved funding to allow street sweepers to alternate streets,” she said.
“I will continue to partner with Rossmoor residents to address these important quality of life issues,” said Foley in the statement.
According to Mendoza, “for more than 30 years, residents have not had an alternative and were restricted from parking on all Rossmoor residential streets on street sweeping days from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.”
“Supervisor Foley heard our concerns and initiated this schedule change to improve the quality of life for Rossmoor residents,” said Mendoza. “We are extremely grateful for her leadership and assistance,” he said in the joint statement.
The Rossmoor Community Services District Board of Directors would like to sincerely thank Supervisor Katrina Foley for representing Rossmoor residents by successfully leading the effort to change the street sweeping ordinance in Rossmoor to provide a schedule that is anticipated to provide significant parking relief to our approximately 10,500 residents and 3,500 homes, he said.
“By changing the street sweeping schedule to the first and third Mondays for the odd numbered addresses side of the street, and the even-numbered side of the street on the second and fourth Mondays, residents and visitors are provided with parking alternatives to avoid a parking violation ticket,” said Mendoza.
Mendoza told the board Tuesday that there will be some contractual changes required with the vendor, which he said may have to change with the new system. He expects to have everything resolved by November, he said.
To make it work, the street sweepers will now have some “dead-runs,” which means they will sometimes have to double back on the same streets they will have already cleaned to make the new schedule work.
“This is a good thing,” said Director Tony DeMarco, head of the RCSD Transportation Committee. “I agree with you that the quality of life is going to be vastly improved,” he said.
After a discussion that answered many questions and technical details from other directors, the RCSD Board unanimously approved a motion to give Mendoza the authority to move forward with the agreement and to authorize an additional $20,000, which will now be reimbursed by the county following Foley’s action.
Rossmoor residents are encouraged to reach out to Manuel Chavez, Supervisor Katrina Foley’s Constituent Service Manager for Rossmoor, to share any concerns. Manuel can be reached at manuel.chavez@ocgov.com.