“Trash and blight accumulation are huge concerns in District 2 from downtown to the Lake to San Antonio," Oakland City Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas (District 2) said in the Oct. 26 press release.

After the county issued its shelter-in-place order in March, the city of Oakland stopped issuing parking tickets to vehicles that were not moved during street sweeping days. But Oakland plans to resume enforcement starting on Nov. 9. The city issues parking tickets to incentivize people to move their cars off of designated sides of streets on the days street sweepers are scheduled to clean them.

Not enforcing parking restrictions on street sweeping days for over six months resulted in trash and other debris piling up in gutters and clogging storm drains. As the rainy season nears, the city says it wants to ensure that streets throughout Oakland are properly swept to avoid floods. According to a press release issued on Oct. 26, street sweepers collected 270 fewer tons of debris between March and September, mainly because many more cars were blocking the street.

To phase parking enforcement back in for street sweeping, the city will issue warnings until Dec. 31, but the same vehicle is only eligible for one warning. After that, it will be ticketed.

Enforcement of other parking regulations continue, including: parking meters, red curbs, yellow curbs, white curbs, blue curbs and spaces, fire hydrants, sidewalk and crosswalk blocking, double-parking and bike lane violations, wheelchair ramp obstruction, essential construction work and other “No Parking” signage, and unauthorized use of disabled person parking placards.

The enforcement of resident parking permits remains on hold until staff completes an analysis that includes a survey of permit holders.

Parking at street meters and in metered city parking lots is free on sundays year-round.

Azucena Rasilla is a bilingual journalist from East Oakland reporting in Spanish and in English, and a longtime reporter on Oakland arts, culture and community. As an independent local journalist, she has reported for KQED Arts, The Bold Italic, Zora and The San Francisco Chronicle. She was a writer and social media editor for the East Bay Express, helping readers navigate Oakland’s rich artistic and creative landscapes through a wide range of innovative digital approaches.