LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport City Council heard from a number of concerned residents Tuesday night regarding a proposal to raise the speed limit in their neighborhood based on state requirements.

On the council's agenda was an updated speed limit ordinance that would change speeds in five areas of the city based on a required speed survey.

Those areas include:

– Bevins Street from Lakeport Boulevard to Bevins Court: 30 to 35 miles per hour;
– Hartley Street from 20th Street to the northern city limits: 30 mile-per-hour zone to be maintained from 20th Street to Hillcrest Drive, Hillcrest Drive to city limits to be posted at 25 miles per hour;
– Martin Street from Smith Street to the western city limits: 35 to 40 miles per hour.
– Parallel Drive from old city limits (near Chester Avenue) to Lakeport Boulevard: 35 to 45 miles per hour.
– 20th Street from Alden Avenue to Hartley Street: 25 to 30 miles per hour.

Most of the council's three-hour meeting was spent discussing and hearing public comment on the proposal, with 20th Street residents raising issues with the speed limit in their neighborhood being raised from 25 to 30 miles per hour.

At its Oct. 18 meeting, the council held its first reading of the ordinance to update the speed limits, during which it was explained by Phil Dow of Dow and Associates, who has conducted seven such surveys for the city over a 35-year period, that guidelines give local municipalities – and traffic engineers like himself – little latitude in setting speed limits.

Since the Oct. 18 meeting, Community Development Director Kevin Ingram said city staffers had spoken with residents of the 20th Street neighborhood about their concerns. Ingram said Dow was invited back to offer more specifics and answer questions.

Dow said that according to California Vehicle Code, if an entity wants to establish and maintain speed limits in its jurisdiction, those limits have to be justified every five years by a traffic and engineering study.

He said monitoring strips are placed down and information from at least 100 vehicles driving through the area is collected. In the case of 20th Street, the area west of Mellor Drive was sampled during between Aug. 5 and 10, 2015, and the data analyzed over last winter.

As he had explained in the previous meeting, Dow said that speed limits are set based on a study of the 85th percentile speed. Only in cases where there are major safety factors or accident data can speed limits be set lower, and even then it must be justified in writing and is limited to only 5 miles per hour below what the law would normally allow.

Dow said that it used to be that he could make a recommendation based on his professional judgment. But that changed significantly in 2009, when the California Traffic Control Devices Committee tightened the rules and reduced the latitude for professionals like him.

Dow said he was not surprised by concerns from 20th Street residents. However, he explained that people drive according to the roadway and conditions – and don't generally pay attention to speed limit signs – and speeds have tended to be higher on that street because it is wide and has areas that are not developed.

“It's prone to having higher speeds than I would like and probably most of the public would like,” he said.

However, Dow also noted that, just because speeds limits are raised in an area doesn't necessarily mean drivers will start driving faster.

He pointed to the case five years ago, when he last presented a speed limit survey to the city, in which his recommendation was to raise the speed limit on Main Street from 25 to 30 miles per hour. He had told the council at the time that it wouldn't make a difference regarding prevailing speed, and that prediction held true based on the most recent speed limit survey.

Dow added that when the traveling public is given a speed limit they think is reasonable, they will work to achieve it.

Councilman Martin Scheel asked Dow what he thought the speed should be. Dow said he agreed with residents, that it should not be raised.

Dow said it comes down to an enforcement issue. He said he's spoken with Police Chief Brad Rasmussen about the situation, and noted that there are plenty of reasons to be uncomfortable with the requirement to raise the speed. “I was uncomfortable with when I wrote this,” he said, adding, “This is counterintuitive.”

Councilwoman Mireya Turner asked if the city had an option of segmenting the street, and having different speeds at different sections, suggesting that the area near Mellor Drive is where people drive faster. Dow said it could be considered.

Dow said they also could consider removing all speed zone signs, as plenty of residential areas don't have speed limit signs. But without the posted legal speed it would be unenforceable.

During public comment, community members raised questions about the history of enforcement in the area, brought up concerns about not being able to lower speeds once they're raised, and asked for additional studies and time before the speed limit was changed.

Amidst concerns from neighborhood residents about the presence of children, pets and pedestrians, the council didn't want to risk police not being able to enforce speeds.

“The real thing that we need to do is enforce the existing speed limit at 30,” said Councilman Kenny Parlet, adding there wasn't anything else the city could do. “It's not us, it's the law.”

Rasmussen was questioned about when was the last time his department issued a ticket on 20th Street. Rasmussen said his officers hadn't written a ticket there in two years.

Scheel asked how many complaints about speeding on 20th Street have been made to police. Rasmussen said the only complaints his office has received were regarding the 20th and Hartley stop signs, and that in his research he hadn't find any calls about speeding.

Area resident Ken Levie said the problem was somewhere between no tickets by police and residents not complaining.

He said there are “gross violators” in the neighborhood, and he believes more enforcement would cause speeds to go down. Levie added that if the council raised the speed limit to 30 miles per hour, police need to enforce it.

Derina Lucas asked if it would help if neighbors start complaining, and requested the city wait for six months before putting up the speed.

Rasmussen encouraged residents to notify police of any concerns, explaining that his staff has been short-handed. “We have to look at data and respond to complaints,” he said.

Lucas, in turn, said she planned to start complaining about speeding the next day.

Ingram said the hard truth is that it's a residential area adding, “The people who are speeding live in that area too.”

He suggested that public education is one of the most immediate things that can be done to address the speeding problem.

When resident Tom Curry said it felt like the neighborhood was being blackmailed because the speed had to be allowed to go up before enforcement would take place, Parlet responded that the city can't enforce a different speed other than 30 miles per hour.

“It has to be 30 under law,” he said, acknowledging, “It's not right, we don't want that.”

Questions were raised during the meeting about the viability of traffic calming measures, such as islands and speed bumps. Public Works Superintendent Doug Grider explained that the former was extremely expensive, and the latter was destructive to vehicles belonging to the public and public safety agencies, and had led to litigation in some places.

He suggested other measures, and offered to talk to Dow about additional signage regarding the presence of children.

When council members asked Dow if he could do another speed survey with a view to possibly lowering the speed, Dow said yes, but added that they should wait a few months to see a change in behavior. He suggested doing another study in January.

Rasmussen, who had noted during the meeting that he had planned to beef up traffic enforcement citywide after the start of the year, said he didn't think having another survey in January would give his staff time to carry out the necessary monitoring and enforcement to get speeds down.

During their discussion, council members said they recognized and understood why community members were upset.

Scheel said he was “disgusted” with having to raise the speed limit, and emphasized the need for community outreach.

Turner said she felt 30 miles per hour was too fast for 20th Street, adding that they needed to give Lakeport Police the necessary tools to address the situation. She said it also will take a coordinated effort between police and neighbors, who will need to bring issues to law enforcement's attention.

Councilwoman Stacey Mattina said she hoped community members would get out and talk to each other in the effort to get drivers to slow down.

Rasmussen agreed that it will take a community effort, and said he can use all the help he can get from the neighborhood to get the word out to get the speed down. Noting one resident had offered to go door-to-door, he said, “That's the kind of help I'm going to need.”

Scheel moved to approve the ordinance with the understanding that a future study would be done on 20th Street, with Turner seconding and the council approving the ordinance 5-0.

Also on Tuesday, the council approved resolutions opposing Proposition 57 and revising the prohibited parking zones within the city to expand the no parking zone to include the entire frontage of the Gateway Business Park at 975 Bevins St., and received a presentation from Jennifer Strong, the ride director for the annual Konocti Challenge bike ride, which brought hundreds of cyclists to Lakeport in October.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.