Coronavirus: L.A. will temporarily stop ticketing during street sweeping

In an effort to help residents stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic, Los Angeles will temporarily stop ticketing cars during street sweeping and relax its enforcement of some other parking rules, Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday.

For the next two weeks, cars left in L.A. residential areas during street sweeping will not be ticketed, Garcetti said.

The city will also temporarily stop ticketing and towing vehicles that are abandoned and oversized vehicles parked overnight.

The city will also freeze parking fine increases for the next 60 days, Garcetti said, and will extend all payment deadlines until June 1.

“People are feeling the financial pinch,” Garcetti said. “The small things we can do help families, we will enact.”

Los Angeles parking officers will not ticket parents and caregivers who are picking up meals around closed schools, and there will be an “extended grace period” for people picking up groceries or dropping off goods, he said.

“There’s no need to worry about the financial cost of keeping your car at home while you practice safe social distancing,” he said. “You help our city ‘flatten the curve.’”

Not all parking enforcement will stop. During “the duration of this emergency period,” Garcetti said, parking officers will focus on “street sweeping around encampments, ensuring emergency access, keeping colored curbs clear, and repaving and slurry operations.”

The city will not loosen restrictions at parking meters, Garcetti said, in an effort to encourage parking turnover at businesses “that are relying now on many people coming to pick up food, and delivery services that can serve us food as well.”

The region has gradually shut down over the last week as elected and public health officials have worked to halt the spread of the virus and residents have observed “social distancing” by staying six feet away from each other.

Traffic has been eerily light. Bars and nightclubs have shut down, and restaurants have limited their business to takeout orders until March 31. Movie theaters, gyms and fitness centers are also closed. Grocery stores, pharmacies and food banks remain open.