Courthouses Create Parking Problems

The county of Los Angeles is proposing to construct a 280,000-square-foot courthouse on the vacant property fronting Penfield Avenue north of Prairie Street, which is going to severely impact the residential communities to the north as well as the peace and tranquillity of the Chatsworth business park.

The Chatsworth Homeowners Committee has reviewed three operating courthouses in Bellflower, Whittier and the city of San Fernando. Because the county cannot control the influx of people to its facilities, parking is always a major problem. The county charges a fee to park in its lots, and therefore, people resort to parking away from the courthouse in any unrestricted space they can find.

You would be appalled by the situation on the streets surrounding the San Fernando courthouse. Residents and business owners in San Fernando have been trying for years to get something done about the parking problems, but court officials simply tell them it is the city’s problem, not theirs.

For the most part, all the parking lots in the business park are unrestricted, and on-street parking is not regulated. If the courthouse is located in the business park, business owners will find their lots full of courthouse visitors seeking free parking.

CHUCK NOVAK & LEE DAWSON. Novak and Dawson wrote on behalf of the Chatsworth Homeowners Committee .