Parking Ban Lifted to Help Shop Owners

City officials will offer a holiday gift to shop owners on western Ventura Boulevard this week by temporarily lifting an afternoon parking ban that shop owners said deterred potential customers.

For the last month and a half, parking has been prohibited on the south side of Ventura Boulevard between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and De Soto Avenue between 3 and 7 p.m.

The ban was imposed by Mayor Tom Bradley as part of an effort to improve the flow of traffic on the busy thoroughfare during peak commuter hours. Similar restrictions have been enacted along other stretches of Ventura Boulevard.

But Woodland Hills business owners complained that the parking ban has driven customers away. In a meeting last month, they appealed to city officials to lift the prohibition, at least for the holiday shopping season.

“They were essentially shutting their businesses down at 3 p.m.,” said Bob Gross, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization. “The restrictions would totally destroy the holiday shopping season.”

Area residents said they were also affected by the restrictions because frustrated shoppers instead parked along residential streets.

Last week, city transportation officials lifted the parking restrictions for the month of December in response to community concerns, said Rosalind Wayman, a deputy for City Councilman Marvin Braude.

This week, workers from the Department of Transportation will cover the parts of the signs that restrict parking in the afternoons.

Wayman said that city officials intend to reinstate the ban in January. Gross said that community members hope to persuade city officials to drop the afternoon parking restriction for good.