Consideration of an ambitious proposal to revamp West Hollywood parking regulations was postponed by the City Council last night until its June 1 meeting.
The proposal, initiated by newly elected Councilmember Lauren Meister with the support of Councilmember John D’Amico, asked for the formation of a Council subcommittee to consider rolling back parking meter enforcement hours in the city’s busiest nightlife areas from midnight to 8 p.m. It included a number of other changes, including implementation of a parking credits program for businesses in the Center City area and reductions in some parking fines and increases in others. It essentially would have rescinded changes made in the parking meter hours that were implemented in September 2013.
Genevieve Morrill, CEO of the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, asked that the Council delay acting on the proposals until city staffers could present the results of a study of the impact of the expanded meter hours and the proposal could be reviewed by the Chamber’s Government Action Committee. Morrill also challenges statements in the proposal, saying they seemed to conflict with data assembled by an outside consultant.
The decision to postpone consideration of changes to the parking program was prompted by the lateness of the hour. When it came up on the agenda, the Council already had spent five hours in session, with much of that time devoted to hearing an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of a development at 826 N. Kings Rd.
I am befuddled by “progressives” who argue in favor of for-profit law enforcement. There is nothing progressive about balancing budgets on the backs of the relatively less well off in the form of hidden taxes and regressive fines and fees. While selling out West Hollywood’s quality of life to developers, WeHo’s leaders of the past — like John Heilman — have never seen fit to require the developer donor friends to create enough parking for their buildings. This forces residents, not just visitors, to the streets. Restrictive parking laws — and the fines associated — thus affect the relatively less… Read more »
“ostensibly” that is …
There’s a shortage of parking in the city, what a brilliant idea — let’s give it away! That should solve the problem. Our city was in the black even during a recession. We have important city services like PATH to fund. Why would we deprive ourselves of an important source of revenue (parking fees on Sundays and after 8pm), particularly when doing so encourages behavior that is bad for individuals and communities? What do people hate most about LA and WeHO? Traffic and parking scarcity. Yet giving away parking for free contributes to both of those problems. It also makes… Read more »
it’s always so much more tidy and efficient if there is no dissent,
the bullies want to shout down those darn rabble rousers.
why can’t we all think alike and go over the cliff side together, right?
So, because of Heidi Shink and Larry Block the West Hollywood City Council could not conduct business. The meeting ran over 5 hours. Is this what you want for our city?
It is bad enough John D’Amico has spent the past four years of the council’s time campaigning and attacking John Heilman, if Shink or Block are elected you can count on this each meeting.
If you don’t want to turn the council meetings into a full time campaign fight for D’Amico – Don’t vote for Shink and Block!
By all means…we must have more studies completed to review how things used to be.
Who’s water is Genevieve Morrill carrying?
Not sure what the problem is. Other than a reference to his possible role in the upcoming calendar, my post above had nothing to do with him or his candidacy. Hope you aren’t my new stalker.
Are you Heilman’s PR person?
If only the council had accepted my suggestion of choosing the 4th place contestant in the March election (he almost certainly is going to win anyway), we would have to wait til July to get things done.
D’Amico announced he’s missing May 18 (vacation). The election is the day after the June 1 meeting, then the swearing in ceremony (if Heilman he’ll likely skip the noisy pomp). so it might be July until things settle down.
But in the case of these mostly nonsense parking rule redos, maybe the excuse to delay in a good thing.