West Hollywood : Street Barrier to Remain

A group of residents who unsuccessfully fought construction of a Ramada Inn near Westmount Drive six years ago won a battle this week to retain the street barrier that blocks traffic from the hotel and retail complex.

The City Council voted unanimously to keep the chain barrier up permanently after more than a dozen residents argued that its removal would increase traffic and endanger safety.

The barrier, which blocks Westmount Drive just north of the Ramada complex and City Hall, was meant to be temporary when it was erected in 1989 as a concession to residents who feared that the 178-room hotel and store complex would send too much short-cutting traffic through the neighborhood. Traffic from the hotel and City Hall must exit Westmount onto Santa Monica Boulevard.

The Planning Commission had recommended removing the barrier to study the resulting traffic for six to nine months before deciding whether to remove it permanently.

But after hearing from members of the West Knoll Triangle Residents Assn., the council voted to leave up the barrier, even though a limited survey indicated that most neighborhood residents supported its removal, as did a group of City Hall employees.