Westside : Residents Back Plan for Parking Garage

If sentiments expressed at a community meeting are any indication, merchants and residents of Westwood strongly support a plan to build a parking garage on city-owned land in the middle of Westwood Village.

The meeting Tuesday night was called by Los Angeles Councilman Mike Feuer, who wanted to see whether Westwood locals would consider combining the much-needed parking project with other uses on the site. The option Feuer presented--although he stressed at the meeting that he does not necessarily favor an alternative--was an open-air mall with underground parking.

Some who attended the meeting said they liked the idea of creating an open-space area that could make Westwood a commercial hot spot and showpiece.

But most said they had waited long enough--more than 10 years--for the parking structure proposal to become reality. Construction on the garage could start early next year.

The group also was concerned that the roughly $6.5 million that has been set aside for the project out of parking meter revenue would be at risk if the parking garage project was put on hold.