Residents of Studio City Ask Parking Curbs

Worried that a flood of cars soon may pour into their neighborhood, Studio City homeowners have moved to tighten parking restrictions on half a dozen streets near a new shopping center.

Residents said they may form a neighborhood “preferential parking district” near the $15-million retail project to prevent shoppers and store clerks from parking in front of their homes.

Such a district would allow homeowners to pay a $15 yearly fee to the Los Angeles City Department of Transportation to receive a permit to park on neighborhood streets. Cars driven by outsiders would not be allowed to park unless special short-term visitors’ permits were obtained.

Options Outlined

Less stringent measures, such as designation of one-hour parking zones or a ban on daytime parking, also are being considered, residents said.

Options for controlling parking in the vicinity of the Center at Coldwater project were outlined for about 50 residents Tuesday night by city transportation engineers Richard Jaramillo and Howard Lampert.

The upscale shopping center is being built at the former site of the landmark Tail O’ the Cock restaurant. The controversial project was approved for construction last year after homeowners persuaded city officials to severely limit its size.

Homeowners said they also may seek city permission to turn busy Dickens Street, south of the shopping center site, into a cul-de-sac to prevent Ventura Boulevard motorists from using it as a shortcut to Coldwater Canyon Avenue.

They also complained to Lampert that a newly installed mountaintop traffic signal at Coldwater’s intersection with Mulholland Drive south of Studio City has worsened traffic congestion downhill in their neighborhood during morning commuter hours.

Homeowners will seek tough enforcement of any new parking restrictions in the neighborhood, said Polly Ward, president of the Studio City Residents Assn.