Shopkeeper Backs Westwood Hotels

As a small shop owner in Westwood Village, I deplore the position of the three homeowners’ groups (Westwood Homeowners Assn., friends of Westwood Inc. and Holmby-Westwood Property Owners) regarding the limit of hotel rooms in Westwood Village. I believe Westwood should have several hotels and that hotel visitors would stabilize the downtrend in the type of visitor to the village.

The hotels would bring non-automobile, upper-income visitors to the village. The restaurants and shopping are a natural attraction. The university needs the hotel rooms to support its activities. The existing offices will support the hotels. Residents in the area will find the quality of the services offered and the upscale restaurants and shopping appealing.

To block the development of hotels will only continue the downward direction of the village.

The city of Los Angeles must understand that it has a responsibility to operate as a master landlord who must compete for business with newer shopping centers.

Instead, the city approaches Westwood as if it were a penal colony. It taxes the users of the parking spaces by an aggressive ticketing policy that serves to drive away the very type of customers we shopkeepers wish to attract.

The city should be made accountable for its administration of the area. It takes tax revenue from the real estate sales, tax revenue from the shop owners, and police revenue from the parking and traffic violators. But it is running the area into economic oblivion and exacerbating the very situation that we all wish corrected.

KEN KENNEDY

Westwood