Neighborhood to Get Parking Lot, Despite Protests by Homeowners : Zoning: The City Council approved the 33 spaces, some of which are needed for a district attorney’s office.

The City Council has approved plans to build a 33-space parking lot in a mostly residential neighborhood, despite the protests of nearby homeowners.

The council voted 3 to 2 to overturn a Planning Commission decision that denied Orosman and Julia Vizcaino a conditional-use permit to build the parking lot in the 2900 block of Walnut Street.

Two empty houses are on the site, which, because it is on the north side of Walnut Street, is in Huntington Park. The south side of the street is in Walnut Park, an unincorporated portion of Los Angeles County.

The houses are directly behind two commercial buildings the Vizcainos own on Florence Avenue.

Neighbors fear that the parking lot will lower property values because it will attract graffiti taggers and vagrants, and cause other problems.

“This will become another criminal corridor,” said Mark Nash, who lives next to the site. “This will be a disaster for families here.”

But City Councilman Luis Hernandez, one of the three who voted in favor of the project Feb. 16, said he believes the commercial lot will help increase property values. He noted that the district attorney’s office has set up a field operation in one of the Florence Avenue buildings.

“Huntington Park is trying to move forward in terms of providing services and fighting the criminal element,” Hernandez said. “We need to maintain the integrity of the community and fight crime.”

Ory Vizcaino, whose parents own the properties, said the lot was approved with several stipulations. For example, a six-foot wall will close it off from Walnut Street, thorny shrubs will deter trespassers and the lot will be closed in the evenings. The city also has required the Vizcainos to post a $5,000 bond, which would be relinquished if they do not maintain the property.

“What we have proposed was nothing out of the ordinary or unusual. We’ve always been committed to improving our properties and making them work within communities,” Ory Vizcaino said. “The reality is there are parking lots up and down Walnut Street. (Residents) have blown the whole thing out of proportion.”

Still, critics say questions remain over the City Council’s decision to overrule the Planning Commission, which denied a conditional-use permit Jan. 6. The Vizcainos leased the space to the district attorney’s office last August, nearly six months before the matter of the parking lot came before the Planning Commission.

The 10-year lease is dependent on the Vizcainos providing 20 parking spaces, eight more than what is available on the Florence Avenue property, Vizcaino said. The Vizcainos have until May 31 to provide the remaining spaces or risk losing the lease, he said.

At the City Council meeting, residents accused council members of bowing to that agreement for fear of losing a high-profile organization such as the district attorney’s office. And they charged that city planning officials glossed over environmental reviews.

Hernandez and other officials insist that the parking lot is permitted under the city’s General Plan. City planning staffers say the review of the project was no different than with other conditional-use requests. The staff had recommended that the permit be granted.