L.A. city councilman Jack Weiss, whose district includes
Westwood, held a meeting for Village business owners and community
organizers Thursday to discuss lack of parking ““Â a
problem many merchants point to as a prime reason for business woes
in the Village.
Amid heckles and groans from several merchants dissatisfied with
Weiss’ failure to improve the parking situation, the
councilman continued to impress upon them his desire for change in
an attempt to restore their faith.
“I am looking at every alternative I can to increase
parking in Westwood,” Weiss said.
But no change appears to be on the horizon, and business owners
are growing restless as their need for a solution to parking
shortages continues to increase.
“The parking in Westwood has been a disaster for a long
time,” said Jay Handal, president of the West Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce.
“We have people that circle for 30 or 45 minutes and
cannot find parking to see their doctors and lawyers,” said
Scott Liebert, owner of the Westwood Professional Building.
Several merchants voiced their ideas on ways to instantly
improve the parking problem, but Weiss tended to defer their
comments. At one point, Steven Brower, co-owner of Damon and
Pythias restaurant, called Weiss out on his avoidance of answering
questions.
Among the options discussed was allowing the public parking
structure on Broxton Avenue, adjacent to Madison’s, to give
two hours of free parking or to have parking become subsidized by
the city in privately-owned lots in order to reduce fees for
shoppers.
With the end of the Westwood Business Improvement District,
there is currently no organization that addresses parking. In many
business owners’ eyes, the BID spread itself too thin and
could not devote enough resources to parking anyway.
“We need to create some kind of entity that will focus on
parking,” said Jeff Abell, owner of Sarah Leonard’s
Jewelers.
Other merchants expressed a desire to have the Westwood parking
revenue, which is taken in by the city of Los Angeles, be spent
directly on Village parking validations.
Currently merchants must pay for each parking stub they
validate, so many choose not to. For example, the cost of
validations for a sandwich or ice cream shop that makes, on
average, five dollar sales would be too costly.
“We should be able to keep the parking meter and parking
ticket money in Westwood,” said Philip Gabriel, owner of
Scrubs Unlimited.
The city of Los Angeles takes in upwards of $750,000 a year in
revenue from the Village’s parking meters and the parking
structure on Broxton, with millions of more dollars coming from
parking citations.
Next week the parking frenzy will skyrocket even further as the
Broxton surface lot and half of the upper level of the structure
bordering Maloney’s will be shut down for four days due to
the premiere of Martin Lawrence’s “National
Security.”
The private parking lots that will still be open are expected to
charge $20 and up for parking during the premiere.
Even if customers are willing to pay these parking prices once,
it creates a perception that parking in Westwood is either
nonexistent or costs a mint, and they won’t want to
return.
The poor perception of parking has increased because people see
the high priced costs of private lots posted but miss the
lower-costing Broxton structure because it is difficult to find and
unknown to many, merchants said.
“The city does not promote the (structure) that it
has,” Gabriel said.
Business owners and community organizers said Weiss sidestepped
the parking issue while he tries to paint a picture of the Village
as a robust area filled with thriving enterprises and energetic
crowds.
“Let’s not let the public lose sight of what is
unique and great about Westwood,” Weiss said.