Panel Moves to Stem Traffic Problems

In an effort to stem worsening traffic conditions on Ventura Boulevard, a Los Angeles City Council committee has recommended expanding controls that govern commercially zoned property along Ventura and Cahuenga boulevards from Vineland Avenue to Woodrow Wilson Drive.

Under the expansion proposed by the Planning and Land Use Management Committee, current restrictions making it more difficult for businesses generating high traffic flows to open on the busy thoroughfares would be extended west on Ventura Boulevard to Carpenter Avenue near the CBS Studio Center.

On Tuesday the City Council is scheduled to consider extending the controls, which are directed at businesses such as convenience stores, theaters, drive-thru establishments and motels.

The initial restrictions, approved by the council in March 1996, require business owners to obtain a special project permit from the Planning Department before opening establishments in the designated area, said Tom Henry, planning deputy for Councilman Joel Wachs.

“This is an area of Ventura Boulevard where we want to encourage business but the concern is that we don’t want to make this a corridor of drive-thrus,” Henry said. “The councilman’s concern is with traffic and safety.”

Zoning controls in the area are generally determined by the Ventura/Cahuenga Boulevards Specific Plan, but amending the plan involves a lengthy bureaucratic process that can take a year or longer, Henry said.

The controls could take effect within 30 days after council approval. “We didn’t want to wait for the plan to be amended because that can take a long time,” Henry said.