STUDIO CITY : Parking Plan Divides Residents, Businesses

It was residents versus business people as the fight to solve Studio City’s severe parking problems finally made it to a public hearing.

At Thursday night’s meeting, arranged by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, neighbors and businesses sparred over whether to set up a preferential parking district for the area around Ventura and Laurel Canyon boulevards.

If the plan is approved, parking in the neighborhood would be limited to two hours unless autos display a residential or guest permit.

Nadine Antin-Colla, a Studio City resident for the past seven years, supported the proposal. “People loiter and litter,” Antin-Colla said. “Those of us who live on Cantura (Street) feel like we don’t have any control.”

Although businesses are important to the area, she said, their employees and customers crowd residential streets close to the boulevard, making it impossible for residents to park near their homes.

But Harold Ginsburg, owner of Art’s Deli on Ventura Boulevard, told the crowd at Carpenter Avenue Elementary School that the city should be responsible for supplying parking for employees and should not try to pit the groups against each other.

“The city is making us take the position that it is the merchants against the residents,” Ginsburg said. “They want us to fight it out.”

The proposed boundaries for the district are Ventura Boulevard to the north, Viewcrest Road to the south, Laurel Terrace Drive to the west and Laurel Canyon Boulevard to the east.

City Council approval is needed and 67% of residents must sign the petition for a parking district to be established.

If the plan is adopted, residents could renew their permits every 90 days, purchase six-month visitor passes for $10 to be used on their block only or guest permits for $1 a day to be used anywhere in the district.

Consumers could also purchase guest permits to shop along the boulevard and employees could use them for parking all day on residential streets. Business owners, however, may not purchase the residential permits unless they live in the neighborhood.

“One of the disadvantages (of the parking district) is that you are not guaranteed a parking space in front of your own home. Your neighbor can park there too,” Rafael R. Prepena, a transportation engineer, warned the crowd of 75. “But the advantage is you know who is parking on your street and you are able to preserve the integrity of your neighborhood.”

The public can park for two hours in the district without a permit, but after two hours they will be issued a $30 parking ticket. “This is to discourage businesses from sending their employees into the neighborhood to park all day,” Prepena said.