Culver City Seeks Increase in Parking at Mini-Malls

The Culver City Planning Commission last week unanimously approved a measure that would increase the parking space developers must provide to build new fast-food restaurants and mini-malls.

The proposed ordinance, which must be approved by the City Council, was prepared in response to the spate of new fast-food restaurants and mini-malls in Culver City, planning officials said.

Within the past year, about half a dozen fast-food outlets and as many mini-malls have been built in Culver City, mostly in the Sepulveda/Jefferson area, which already had the largest concentration of both, said Jackie Freedman, a city planner.

“The commission has seen a proliferation (of fast-food restaurants and malls) and the traffic and parking problems associated with them,” Freedman said.

The ordinance would require developers of fast-food eateries to provide 13 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area, which is about twice the number required by the current city code. Mini-malls, defined as centers on five acres or less, would have to have at least one space per 250 square feet of floor area.

The ordinance would also require developers of all new fast-food restaurants to obtain conditional-use permits from the city so that officials could assign additional development standards.

Commissioner Pat Dolce said the ordinance was drafted to allow patrons better access to fast-food restaurants and malls and to provide a better business environment. He said the ordinance would provide a balance between the public’s need for access and the desire for development in parts of the city that could benefit from new restaurants and mini centers.

“We have nothing against the developers. What we are after is responsible development so the citizens of the city can use these businesses without being crammed. Adequate parking is really the key,” Dolce said.