Landowners Asked to Pay for Municipal Parking Lot

Officials from Los Angeles Councilwoman Ruth Galanter’s office, faced with a shortage of money for parking improvements in their district, are asking developers and owners of property along West Washington Boulevard in Venice to pick up the tab for building a city parking lot behind the properties.

Galanter’s predecessor, former council President Pat Russell, last spring persuaded the city to buy a strip of land for about $3 million to build a parking lot with more than 100 spaces for customers of businesses along a five-block stretch of West Washington Boulevard between North Venice Boulevard and Santa Clara Avenue.

The land is between Electric Avenue and several buildings that front Washington Boulevard.

The plan was seen as a way to ease the area’s parking shortage and boost business along the street, which features clothing boutiques, antiques stores, restaurants, gift shops, a liquor store and a psychic reader.

Fund Empty

But Galanter’s 6th District parking fund, which pays for parking improvements with money collected from parking meters, does not have the $750,000 to $1 million needed to build the lot on the property, said Judy Sobject, a chief administrative analyst for the city and chairwoman of the Venice Community Projects Committee, a group of 15 community leaders who oversee new civic projects in the area.

A second potential source of funding, profits from the sale of surplus city-owned property, is empty because that money was used to purchase the property last year, said Jim Bickhart, Galanter’s legislative deputy. As a result, it could take up to two years before the city itself can afford to construct the parking lot, Bickhart said.

“Obviously we’re talking about a lot of money,” said Rick Ruiz, Galanter’s press deputy. “Unfortunately, we are not able to raise money at will.”

Members of Galanter’s staff earlier this month asked a group of merchants, property owners and residents of the area to come up with proposals on how to fund the parking lot. The proposals are expected to be completed soon, Ruiz said.

Quick Solution

Bernard Perloff of Perloff & Webster, a development firm that owns five buildings along West Washington Boulevard, said Galanter’s suggestion that developers pay for the project is the quickest solution to the parking problem. He cautioned, however, that he may change his mind if the plan costs too much.

“In theory it’s a good idea, because it’s something that could go a lot quicker than a city process,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that the city does not have the funds to do it, because that would be the first choice, but I do think it’s a creative attempt on their part to ask the property owners and merchants to come up with proposals.

“The street has been a failure commercially, and lack of parking has been one of the problems.”

Perloff’s partner, Roger Webster, said the city should pay for the parking lot because it will be used mainly by beach-goers from other parts of the city, not by customers.

“I think that (parking for beach-goers) is a citywide problem, not a local problem,” he said.

Jeffrey Fader, who owns nine buildings on West Washington Boulevard, said it is the city’s responsibility to construct the lot. He said the city could, among other measures, purchase a bond to pay for the construction and pay the money back with revenues from parking meters installed on the lot.

“Basically, the city is now killing the neighborhood,” he said. “The business of West Washington Boulevard is becoming stagnant due to the inefficiency of government.”