Torrance rethinking fines for street-sweeping parking tickets

TORRANCE, Calif. -- The city of Torrance is rethinking its street sweeping program.

The program was enacted in 2014 to comply with new Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board regulations.

Those rules threatened fines of $10,000 daily against cities if their storm runoff sends large amounts of debris into local watersheds.

But the water quality board rarely, if ever, fines cities that don't comply.

This fact has Torrance City Council members questioning why they have the program.

Cars parked on streets during street sweeping hours get hit with a $43 ticket.

Critics say that fine is too punitive.

The City Council voted 6-1 to separate street-sweeping tickets from other traffic violations so the number of citations can be tracked better.

The vote also ordered staff to get written confirmation from the water quality board of what will happen if the city scraps the street sweeping program.