A summary of selected City Hall actions...

A summary of selected City Hall actions last week that affect the Westside.

CITY COUNCIL

* WESTWOOD PARKING--Approved reducing the parking meter rate in Westwood Village from $1 per hour to 50 cents per hour. Merchants in Westwood have complained the parking rates were excessive and contributed to a loss of business in the area, although a study by the city Department of Transportation showed the meters had occupancy levels above 90%. The lower rate will decrease the parking revenue for Council District 5--which encompasses Westwood and is represented by Zev Yaroslavsky--by an estimated $570,000.

* CHIMNEYS AND WALLS--Approved an ordinance that would require new concrete and masonry chimneys to be anchored to the structural framework of buildings. Also, masonry and concrete block walls shorter than 3 1/2 feet, previously exempt from the building code regulations, would now have to comply with the code. The changes follow widespread damage caused by falling chimneys and walls in the Jan. 17 earthquake.

* HISTORIC MONUMENT--Approved adding the Feuchtwanger House, also known as Villa Aurora, to the city’s list of Historic-Cultural Monuments. Located in Pacific Palisades, the 1927 house was once owned by novelist Leon Feuchtwanger and now houses a 36,000 volume library.

HOW THEY VOTED

* NO CHARGE--Approved a Department of Water and Power plan that would waive all electric and water turn-on fees for residential customers and small businesses that suffered damage from the earthquake. Passed 10-0.

Voting yes: Marvin Braude, Jackie Goldberg, Nate Holden, Yaroslavsky.

Absent: John Ferraro, Ruth Galanter, Mark Ridley-Thomas.