City to restrict RC cars

Remote-control vehicle enthusiasts may soon have to watch where they operate their models in city parks after the City Council on Monday approved a proposal to set standards and locations for their use.

A proposal was approved unanimously to direct staff to draft an ordinance to restrict RC vehicles to specific areas in parks and look into designating an area for their use.

The ordinance, when drafted, will come back to the council for formal approval.

The proposal was brought to the council by Mayor Cathy Green after she received complaints about the destruction the miniature cars were causing to the habitat, the noise they created and the dust they kicked up.

“I just kind of want to make sure we have a place for kids and parents to go that is safe but not destructive,” Green said.

Community Services Director Jim Engle said staff will begin looking into alternative locations for RC vehicles.

The problem became apparent to city officials about a month ago when citizens began complaining and officials became aware of YouTube videos of people jumping RC vehicles over fire in the park, Engle said.

Not all users are creating a problem, Engle said. It is the people who build dirt jumps and dig courses into the area near Goldenwest Street and Talbert Avenue in Huntington Central Park, he said.

“We don’t want to stop the average father and son from coming to the park, but again, they are not trying to create a course down there. They’re just playing on what’s existing,” Engle said.

There is already an ordinance restricting model, or gas-powered, airplanes, helicopters and boats in parks and providing for any loud noise disturbance.

Carol Wiliams, an employee at Shipley Nature Center, sent a letter to council members thanking them for addressing the noise problem the vehicles create.

“I work at Shipley Nature Center and daily see the destruction of habitat, hear the noise that drowns out the singing of birds and children’s laughter and breathe the dust and pollen stirred up by the devastation of the proposed raptor habitat,” Wiliams wrote.

At Huntington Central Park on April 29, one RC vehicle enthusiast couldn’t understand why the ordinance is needed.

“It sucks because it’s not like [the city is] going to do anything with the land ... and it’s not like we’re hurting anything,” said Chuck LaGrone, a Huntington Beach resident.

In other news, the City Council approved increasing fees for emergency medical services and a new fee for nonresidents.

The fee increase is part of the city’s FireMed program, a voluntary membership program that covers paramedic and emergency ambulance services for a household. About 28,000 households are enrolled, staff said.

Basic and advanced life support fees for residents who need a paramedic are going up by more than $100 in the first fee increase in seven years. The basic life support plan would jump from $225 to $350 and the advanced life support plan from $325 to $450 to bring in an estimated $75,000 next year.

Nonresidents would also be charged about $450 if they need transportation to the hospital.

This fee is projected to bring in $225,000 for the next fiscal year.

The fee increases would allow the city to maintain the same level of service while reducing the impact to the general fund, according to city documents.

The fee increase will not impact residents enrolled in the FireMed program with insurance.