Hi. Not sure if this question falls under your area of expertise, but I have a parking violation question:
Recently, I have moved to Studio City. The street I live on is comprised of apartments (which I live) and brand new very expensive condos under construction. 4 of them to be precise. The street is very small, about a tenth of a mile or less. But due to the construction AND the fact that just behind this street is a busy woman's gym where all the clients park on the street of my address, there are not enough parking spaces on the street to accommodate the tenants. The parking situation is made ever more undesirable by installing 2 hour parking restriction signs by the city. That means every 2 hours between 8-6 Monday thru Saturday, a tenant must go out, move from one hard-to-find spot and then go try and find another one. Curiously, the LA river wash dissects this street and on the other side of the river (where the street continues), there are NO restrictions regarding parking. An obvious fact, these are very expensive homes and the homeowners undoubtedly would never put up with this type of restriction placed on them.
Question # 1
what is the process for applying to have the street changed from its current status, to the system of restricted parking as the city of West Hollywood handles it, with tags for rightful tenants and homeowners. Is this an expensive proposition to Studio City council?
Question # 2
So after accumulating a small pile of tickets over the past several months, all paid except today and yesterdays. what recourse do I have, if any? Can I contest the tickets and if so, on what grounds?
I do not feel this is right. Enough already! My feeling is that the city is greed motivated and just a guess here, but it is probably less expensive for Studio City to put up 2 hour signs instead of implementing a parking restriction plan as West Hollywood did.
thanx for your time in reading this and hopefully you can point me in the right direction.
Well a complex email leads to two (somewhat) simple answers:
Answer # 1
Changing the street to a Preferential Parking District (that's what the referenced restricted parking districts are called in the City of LA) is not an easy feat, but not too expensive, either. The real cost is to the residents who have to pay for the permits (limit three annual permits per household). From the LADOT website:
Preferential Parking
Many traditional retail districts lie adjacent to residential areas.
As a result, retail-related vehicles often park in front of
residences. This situation can cause great inconvenience
to residents who frequently are not able to park in front of their
homes. In order to help restore these residential expectations,
preferential parking districts (PPD’s) can be established.
PPD’s can be established in areas impacted by commercial
districts, upon petition from nearby residents. In PPD’s time-limit
parking or no parking zones can be established which apply to all
motorists except area residents. Residents are given permits
that they display in their vehicles to exempt them from the
restriction. Residents in PPD’s must be willing to pay an annual
fee which finances the special PDD efforts associated with
posting the parking signs, distributing residential permits and
administering the program. For information on preferential
parking, contact LADOT at (213)485-0711.
Establishing a PPD takes a minimum of six contiguous blocks and the signature of the majority of the residents. There is a series of public hearings, and the LA City Council has to actually adopt an ordinance establishing the PPD. It takes anywhere from 12 to 24 months to get signs installed and then buy the permits (which must be done in person at one of 4 locations). NOTE: the reason that on the north side of the river (where the single family homes are)doesn't have permits may be because the parking doesn't impact them. Those two hour parking signs were not install by the City for fun - someone in your neighborhood asked for them to be installed at some time. Due to the growth of CBS Radford Studios and the potential for their employees to park on your streets, those signs appear to be necessary. Your residential exemption suggestion seems to be the best solution. Contact the number above or call Councilmember Wendy Greuel's office to start the process. The Studio City Neighborhood Council could support the effort to establish a zone, but it really doesn't fall into their purview to approve or disapprove of it.
Answer #2
Sadly, the emailer can't contest the tickets (to my knowledge). Now, he may be able to set up a payment plan; but technically, he's violated the parking laws and are subject to the penalty. Sorry about that. I might suggest parking on Agnes or one of the streets north of the LA river and walking if you have to park on the street. The walk is not too far, and one can walk along the LA River through the Great Toad Gate and see the giant snake. (You'll have to check it out to see what I mean.)
No comments:
Post a Comment