Sidewalk edges in Solvang appear in many colors: red, yellow, white, and green. They signal no parking zones, 15-minute limits, and loading areas.
Solvang wants to keep track of what all the colors mean, but some of the paint has faded over the course of many years. Curb markings have been installed under different city standards, too. Officials say the inconsistencies make parking enforcement, street maintenance, and city planning more difficult.
At a meeting on Feb. 9, Solvang City Council members decided to allocate $30,000 from the general fund toward the city’s first curb-marking inventory project. Using maps from the study, officials hope to establish a citywide street-marking code, Public Works Director Bridget Paris explained at the meeting.
“Once we have that code, we’ll be able to possibly do more enforcement for various parking infractions around town,” Paris told the council. “This project is in alignment with council goals. No. 1, to analyze all parking improvement opportunities to relieve congestion throughout town.”
Data will be collected over the next five months, Paris said in an email to the Sun.
Without the proper mapping equipment, Solvang plans to partner with a Santa Barbara based company, ZWorld GIS, to complete the inventory, according to the staff report.
The company will conduct fieldwork around the city to identify all curb markings. ZWorld will also measure curb lengths to estimate the parallel parking potential downtown, an important commodity for Solvang’s residents and visitors.
“I know some people have bootlegged their own curbs, painted them red that aren’t supposed to be,” Mayor David Brown said, asking if the inventory will help identify such zones.
The data won’t immediately reveal if any curbs are incorrectly painted, but the project will establish a framework for future investigations, Paris said. In the future the city could adopt an enforceable ordinance with parameters for curb markings.
“This is excellent. I like this a lot,” Councilmember Mark Infanti said.
The council voted 5-0 to approve the $30,000 inventory project. The move was separate from previous discussions at the meeting when the council approved the mid-year budget.
“I wanted to make more comment on it,” City Manager Randy Murphy concluded, “make it more publicly noticed that this is an effort we’re
making to help improve things.”
This article appears in February 19 – February 26, 2026.