Survey Again Divides Residents, Businesses Over City Parking Ban : Sherman Oaks: The study is to determine whether the 12-mile restrictive zone should be modified.

A study designed to help feuding residents and business operators reach a consensus on a city parking ban in Sherman Oaks has them at odds once again.

At issue is a special parking zone that went into effect in January and covers 12 miles of curb along 16 streets, the largest of its kind in the San Fernando Valley. Regulations vary widely throughout the zone, but in the most restrictive blocks, non-residents are barred from parking between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. and restricted to two-hour parking at all other times.

The boundaries of the district are Moorpark Street on the north, Valley Vista Boulevard--Mammoth Avenue--Davana Terrace on the south, Hazeltine Avenue on the west and Longridge Avenue on the east. Parking along the commercial strip of Ventura Boulevard is not affected.

Residents--who tended to favor the restrictions--battled business operators--who resisted them--before the district was approved by the City Council in July, 1990.

This week, the two factions disagreed over the meaning of a study of the district carried out by the city Department of Transportation to determine whether the plan should be modified.

“It indicated that the residential community was solidly behind the preferential parking district and did not want to see changes in the current program,” said Richard H. Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.

But Jeff Brain, president of the Greater Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce, said, “I think it shows that most people feel a compromise is in order.”

Homeowners wanted restrictions to prevent the clogging of their streets by patrons who shop and dine on Ventura Boulevard. But shopkeepers worried that prospective customers would not be able to find parking.

As a compromise, the City Council agreed to phase in the plan and to have the transportation department evaluate how community members felt it was working, said Diana Brueggemann, chief deputy to Councilman Michael Woo.

Woo, who represents most of the area, wrote the ordinance that set up the parking district and will review the department’s study to decide whether to seek changes in the regulations.

Brueggemann said that she forwarded the results of the survey to the two groups last week and that the councilman will wait for feedback from them before deciding what, if any, changes are to be made.

She said, however, that at first glance, “The residents seem to support what’s there now and the businesses are still unhappy about it.”

Of 862 households surveyed on blocks with restrictions, 46% responded. Of 858 households on blocks without restrictions, 24% responded. And 57% of 321 businesses responded.

The survey did not provide clear answers to many of the arguments between the two groups, giving rise to their conflicting interpretations.

Sixty-two percent of the households responding on blocks with restrictions said they oppose changes in the parking district. Fifty-two percent of the households responding from unrestricted blocks said they would not consider changes.

But 93% of the business operators responding said they favor changes.

Ventura Boulevard shop and restaurant owners have said that the loss of parking has hurt them economically by deterring customers. Many have said they would like to see the parking ban only on one side of streets, allowing their employees and customers easier parking.

Brain of the Chamber of Commerce said the business community will continue to fight to restore some parking even if Woo deems that the study does not warrant it.

“We can’t afford to drop this battle to restore the parking,” Brain said. “Without places to park, the cars don’t just disappear. What happens is, the businesses disappear.”

He said his analysis of one of the questions shows that the majority of respondents want the parking restrictions lifted altogether or imposed on only one side of the street.

But Close strongly disagreed. “He sounds like the disgruntled politician who loses, then tries to explain away his loss,” Close said.