A summary of selected City Hall actions this past week affecting Central Los Angeles.

CITY COUNCIL

* SOCCER FIELD: Approved a proposal to temporarily turn a vacant lot at 3rd Street between Bixel Street and Lucas Avenue into a soccer field. The lot’s owners, Cathay City Development, do not plan to develop the property in the near future and agreed to the proposal by a nearby YMCA. The field is scheduled to be completed by July.

* LITTLE TOKYO CHURCH: Authorized the Community Redevelopment Agency to negotiate a pre-development loan, not to exceed $420,000, with the Little Tokyo Service Center for the rehabilitation of the Old Union Church at 120 N. San Pedro Street. The remaining funding for the project, which is estimated at $3.4 million, will come from private donations, the National Register of Historic Places, and a future, larger loan from the CRA. The church, a Historical Cultural Monument, was built in 1923 but has been vacant and deteriorating for several years.

* HEIGHT RESTRICTIONS: Gave final approval to an ordinance changing the height restrictions at Western Avenue and Olympic Boulevard, paving the way for construction of the Pacific Trade Center, a 25-story hotel/office building. The complex is to include a department store, several restaurants, a youth center and 1,000 parking spaces.

* CRA SPENDING: Approved a request by the Community Redevelopment Agency to transfer $6 million in loans earmarked for three single-room-occupancy hotels, (the Palmer House, the Eugene and the Southern) to several Central City East projects, such as park maintenance and emergency shelter beds. The CRA decided to minimize its future involvement in the three hotels after a report found that the high-vacancy rate at the hotels was likely to continue.

* POLICE EQUIPMENT INSTALLATION: Approved using $208,000 in the Police Department’s General Service Fund to employ 10 non-city, union personnel to install communications equipment in 353 newly purchased black-and-white police cars. The installation work is usually done by police personnel, but due to the large number of vehicles, hiring outside help was judged the quickest way to get the cars onto the streets.

HOW THEY VOTED

How South-Central and Eastside City Council representatives voted on selected issues.

* WALKING TO WORK: Endorsed a state Senate bill that would exempt from taxation employer subsidies to employees who walk or bike to work. Some employers pay employees to car-pool or take public transit to their jobs, and this money is exempt from state taxation. In opposing the effort to expand the scope of this exemption, Councilman Nate Holden said: “A person with a job gets paid to work, not to walk to work.” Passed 9-1. Voting yes: Richard Alatorre, Jackie Goldberg, Mike Hernandez, Rudy Svorinich Jr. Voting no: Holden. Absent: Mark Ridley-Thomas, Rita Walters.