Planning Commission Talks Parking, Delays Decision

The Planning Commission spent three hours talking about parking and ways to improve it via a “” program Thursday night, only to continue the hearing until September.

The new parking credits program, which Community Development Director Anne McIntosh described as “out-of-the-box thinking” in her introduction, would overhaul the way the city deals with parking.

City zoning ordinances require businesses to have a certain number of parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of commercial space. In a city as built up as West Hollywood, many businesses cannot meet those parking requirements on-site, so the city allows them to either pay an in-lieu fee or to contract for off-site parking.

Those parking contracts are done through private transactions. Businesses merely provide a copy of the leases to to prove they have met their parking requirements.

Residents criticize this system since businesses are not obligated to make these leased spaces available for customer use. Additionally, some property owners who lease spaces have been accused of double- and triple-dipping, leasing more spaces than they actually have.

The city acknowledges that this off-site system is flawed, that it is “paper parking” rather than real parking. That is why it developed the parking credits program.

New program

The proposed parking credit program would put the city in charge of commercial parking for the first time. The city would count the number of spaces actually available for public use—street parking, parking decks and private lots the public could use. It would then sell parking credits to businesses that need to meet off-site parking requirements.

For example, if there are 1,000 spaces available in a district and a business needs 150 spaces to meet its zoning code requirements, the city would sell it 150 parking credits, bringing the number of spaces in the pool down to 850.

City staffers emphasized that they would have an accurate count of the spaces available in a district, something they have never had before. The city would do a count twice a year to keep the information current.

Senior City Planner David DeGrazia estimated the city would charge $400 per space per year under the parking credits program. Since that is considerably less than the $1,200 or more businesses pay per space per year to lease off-site, the city expects businesses to get onboard with the plan.

Existing businesses could continue to lease off-site spaces if they wanted, but new businesses would be required to use the parking credit program.

No more spaces, no new businesses

When the pool of available spaces in a district approaches zero, the city would stop issuing parking credits. If a new business wanted to open in a district where there was no more parking, the city would turn it down.

Commissioner Lauren Meister questioned, “Is this city going to say no to a business?” McIntosh replied, “We’ve been doing that for years.”

Businesses larger than 10,000 square feet would not be eligible for the program. They would be required to create on-site parking. City staffers explained this was a way of encouraging smaller, neighborhood businesses.

In-lieu fees

Commissioners asked about the in-lieu fee option, something that would be eliminated under the parking credits program. Businesses not wanting to lease off-site spaces are currently allowed to pay a one-time in-lieu fee of $20,000 per required space. McIntosh pointed out the fee solves the parking problem for developers, but does nothing for their customers.

Commissioner Roy Huebner wondered why the in-lieu fee should be eliminated since money collected from it is supposed to go toward creating new parking. City staffers said if the commission wanted, it could keep the fee as part of the code.

Public Works Director Oscar Delgado said that few businesses have ever used the in-lieu fee option. He estimated the city has collected a total of $200,000 to $300,000 since the option was established.

Implemented gradually

City staffers have divided the city into 12 parking districts, but would begin implementing the program gradually. District 1, which covers much of the Boystown area, would be the first to use parking credits since the city controls the parking there thanks to the new parking deck behind the .

During public comment, many residents criticized the plan, saying the city has not invested in parking infrastructure by building more parking lots/decks. Residents repeatedly said the plan could not work until more parking was created, especially along the Sunset Strip and the mid-city areas.

City staffers said that District 1 would be the pilot program to see how it works. Commissioners were uncomfortable changing the zoning laws for a pilot program. However, staffers said in order to comply with current zoning laws, this would have to be added.

Disincentives

Meister cited the recent approval of a Restoration Hardware store on Beverly Boulevard, where city staffers allowed the retailer to eliminate eight existing on-site parking spaces and lease spaces a half mile away to meet off-site requirements. Meister said few people were going to walk that far. She suggested creating disincentives to prevent new businesses from eliminating existing on-site spaces.

By 9:30 p.m., when the commission clearly needed more time to think it over, Chairman Alan Bernstein made a decision to continue the hearing until September when the panel will have a joint session with the Transportation Commission about the parking credits program.

In the meantime, the Transportation Commission will get a presentation about the program at its next meeting, scheduled for Aug. 17.