Though city officials said earlier this year that apron-parking enforcement in North Village would begin this quarter, enforcement has been delayed, most likely until summer.
Felicia Brannon, executive director of UCLA Governmental and Community Relations, said city officials had informed her that ticketing would begin at the start of winter quarter.
Telephone calls made by the Daily Bruin to City Councilman Jack Weiss and the Los Angeles City Department of Transportation were not returned as of Tuesday. But both PC Zai, facilities commissioner for the Undergraduate Students Association Council, and Alex Fay, a fourth-year history student who has been working with the city on the parking situation, said they were told by city officials that enforcement has been unofficially delayed.
Many cars in Westwood are still apron parked, which is when cars park between the sidewalk and the street.
Though apron parking is technically illegal in California, the ban has rarely been enforced in Westwood.
“(Parking enforcement) seems to be lenient,” Zai said.
City officials announced at the beginning of fall quarter that they would begin enforcing apron parking during winter quarter, and many students said they are now expressing confusion over the lack of clear information about when enforcement will begin.
Leanne Shapard, a fourth-year sociology student who lives on Landfair Avenue, said she has noticed a significant decrease in the number of cars parked around apartments, possibly due to the threat of apron-parking enforcement
“People got really nervous,” she said. “I tried to call the city, but nobody knew what I was talking about.”
Fay initiated efforts to express student anger over the enforcement of apron parking by starting a Facebook group and circulating a petition to deliver to the city.
“We can’t trace anything back to the petition,” he said, but he said he believes the city has responded to the backlash from students by delaying enforcement.
Fay is participating in an effort to establish a formal neighborhood council for the North Village that would serve as an official advisory board for Los Angeles city officials.
He said while the task force is in its beginning stages, he hopes it will communicate with the city on behalf of students who live off campus about issues such as apron parking.
In the North Village, the lack of available parking has led to some landlords charging residents to park illegally in driveways and on the streets.
Zai encourages residents who pay a fee to illegally park to contact Student Legal Services and to keep documentation by paying for their rent and parking with two separate checks.
Shapard, who started a different Facebook group, said parking problems may discourage students from choosing to live in the North Village.
“Students might move to different areas of Los Angeles because the rent’s cheaper and there’s more parking,” she said.
She added that though she is graduating, she predicts some students may choose to stay or move back on campus next year.
“Most of us (seniors) are looking forward to getting out of here because of the fiasco that is parking,” she said.
Zai said her office is working on various short- and long-term solutions to help alleviate some of the parking problems.
There have been discussions of possibly offering shuttles to and from Ralph’s and Whole Foods markets, and beginning next year, UCLA’s North Campus shuttle may stop at the intersection of Gayley Avenue and Strathmore Drive.