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Los Angeles looks to enter plan that would eliminate free parking in Broxton Avenue garage

By Thomas Standifer

Sept. 19, 2010 4:34 a.m.

The streets are lined with cars, parking lots are full, congestion is at a standstill, and people pack the sidewalk. It’s a Saturday afternoon, but this could be any day of the week in Westwood Village.

Yet, because of the city of Los Angeles’s budget crisis, those with cars in the area may lose access to any free parking in the village.

While many of the lots are privately operated, the city of Los Angeles owns the 366-space garage on Broxton Avenue that offers two hours of free parking.

The city is proposing to enter into long-term “public-private partnerships,” the P3 plan, for 10 L.A. garages, including the one on Broxton Avenue, according to a press release issued by the city administrative officer. The city plans to form a lease agreement for up to 50 years with a private company.

Funds generated from the proposal will be used to pay back the $95 million debt accrued from the Hollywood and Highland and Cinerama Dome facilities.

Currently, the city is opening the forum for possible bidders to these agreements, and the next stage of decisions will be made late in the fall.

The property on which the Broxton parking garage sits was purchased in 1972 with the goal of alleviating a widening parking concern.

In the 1970s and 1980s, parking meters were placed at the highest rates in the city to raise funds to build the garage, which finally opened in 1997, according to a Westwood Community Council motion opposing the leasing.

Anthony Alvarez, a sixth-year graduate student in economic sociology, said he agrees with the city’s plan.

“This is an urban campus; (parking) shouldn’t be free,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez, who lives in Culver City and uses both a car and bus to get to Westwood, said free parking increases congestion in the city.

Westwood Village already has much less parking available than it should, according to David Livo, a city planning associate. In fact, Livo said all businesses in the village have a requirement to offer parking, but many are exempt because the rule was created after the businesses were already established.

Local businesses are worried that a lack of a free parking option could deter people away from the area.

Heather Hasso, an employee at Monica’s Boutique on Broxton Avenue, said the store already loses business because of events that reduce the amount of parking, such as the weekly farmer’s market and occasional movie premieres.

Hasso said a lack of parking in the Westwood area decreases the level of convenience, and people will choose to shop and eat somewhere else.

District 5 Councilmember Paul Koretz’s office stated that no final decisions have been made regarding the proposal, but that special attention should be paid to the Broxton garage because of its importance to local business. They are working to include price controls that would guarantee low-cost parking to customers from the new operator, the statement said.

Low-cost parking could benefit managers like Tony Aguilar from Jerry’s Famous Deli, who said he can’t provide parking to customers because the lots are already owned.

“We have tried to talk to (the owners) and they won’t lower rates,” he said. “People can’t park, people can’t eat.”

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Thomas Standifer
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