Monday, April 8, 2013

Alert: We Need Support for OPDs and PPDs Now


NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS  |  April 9, 2013


Alert:  We Need Support for OPDs and PPDs Now


Action needed:  Please send this message to the following officials:
I support the settlement in the OPD lawsuit.  Venice needs overnight restricted parking to address loss of parking on a block-by-block basis where non-resident vehicles are taking up scarce parking at night.  The settlement provides sufficient parking close to the beach for early morning visitors.  I also support the proposal to allow residents to implement preferential parking districts (PPDs) adjacent to commercial corridors where the City and the Coastal Commission have allowed the expansion of new retail shops and restaurants without the provision of adequate off-street parking for patrons. 

Officials’ Email Addresses:
City of Los Angeles: <billrosendahl@aol.com>, <mike.bonin@lacity.org>, <Arturo.Pina@lacity.org>, <Paul.Backstrom@lacity.org>, <paola.valdivia@lacity.org>, <tamara.martin@lacity.org>, <felix.valde@lacity.org>
Neighborhood Council: <Board@VeniceNC.org>
Steve Kinsey <skinsey@marincounty.org>, Dayna Bochco c/o <ann@ceresfm.com>

(This alert is also posted at www.venicestakeholdersassocation.org for your convenience.  You can just cut and paste the message and addresses.)

Background:  As mentioned in our earlier notice, the VSA and the City have reached a tentative settlement with the California Coastal Commission staff that will give Venice residents the opportunity to implement overnight restricted parking (OPDs) on their streets.  Now the Commission must formally approve the settlement.
To recap, this means that if residents on your block petition by a two-thirds majority, the City will post signage that will limit parking from 2 AM to 5 AM to residents and their guests who have a permit.  Annual permits are $15, temporary four month permits for visitors are $10, and nightly permits (for parties, etc.) are $1.  (See links below for more information).
With the “No Oversize Vehicle” signage, we have found that those with campers and RVs will not park in a street space in the early evening if they cannot spend the entire night in that space.  We expect the OPD signs will work the same way, encouraging those who are non-residents to seek out other parking in the early evening instead of parking in front of our homes at night.
The settlement basically assures the Coastal Commission that hundreds of empty parking spaces near the beach will continue to be available to early morning visitors by exempting from OPD eligibility certain metered spaces and street spaces in front of government and commercial uses within two blocks of the beach.  Under the settlement, the City also agrees to open up several City owned parking lots (excluding the lot at Main and Rose) for early morning visitors, again freeing up hundreds of spaces (which we believe will rarely be used due to lack of demand at 5 AM, but this was the “price” of the settlement).
The City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) has also stated that at the same time the OPD settlement goes before the Commission (set for early June), DOT will present a request for “Approval in Concept” of a preferential permit parking (PPD) plan to allow residents within 1,500 feet of a commercial corridor (e.g., Rose Avenue, Abbot Kinney) to set up preferential parking districts that would limit visitor parking during the day to two or four hours between 8 AM and 6 PM and limit parking after  6 PM to residents only.  This option is desperately needed due to the tremendous success of these business corridors and the City and Coastal Commission’s failure to require adequate on-site parking at new retail shops and restaurants.

Why we need your help right now:  First, the DOT engineer who championed the OPD settlement and the preferential parking proposal for Venice has retired and it appears that DOT has not assigned another engineer to flesh out the PPD proposal.  Our requests for a written copy of the proposal have gone without reply.  Now, with Venice’s parking issues going to the Coastal Commission, it is the time for the PPD concept to be put before them as well.  Second, two leading anti-OPD advocates, Linda Lucks and David Ewing, are already orchestrating a campaign to defeat both proposals.
The ironies in their opposition are striking.  While Linda Lucks is the president of the Venice Neighborhood Council (VNC), she lives in the Del Rey neighborhood and thus will not be affected by either OPDs or PPDs.  While the official position of the VNC is support of OPDs following the 59\% vote of the residents in favor in 2009, Lucks has been organizing yet another “Town Hall” on OPDs to give anti-OPD forces another forum to try to reverse the VNC’s position.  She also has a conflict of interest, which the VSA has noted in a complaint with the Fair Political Practices Commission and the City Ethics Commission; she is a paid consultant to the Venice Community Housing Corporation, which is a vigorous opponent of OPDs. And, instead of supporting PPDs, she has called them a “red herring.”
Lucks’ partner in this effort, David Ewing, also lives outside the portion of Venice that would benefit from OPDs and PPDs.  He lives east of Lincoln, just down the street from an area of Venice that already has OPDs, in part because it is not under Coastal Commission jurisdiction.  But he wants to deny those in the part of Venice west of Lincoln the right he and his neighbors enjoy to reserve parking at night for residents and their guests.
Lucks, Ewing and their colleagues make the spurious claim that somehow visitor access to the coast will be hampered by OPDs and PPDs.  The Coastal Commission assured in the settlement terms that there will be ample parking in the early morning for years to come for the handful of fishers, joggers and surfers who arrive at 5 AM.  And PPDs would only affect commercial corridors that are at considerable distance from the coast and are not an attractive parking location for visitors for that reason.
To finally get some relief for residents to address the historic parking shortage in Venice, please send the message above to the officials listed.
And please send this request to all your Venice friends and neighbors today and ask them to send the pro-OPD/PPD message out as soon as possible.
If you have any questions, please call me at (310) 392-4843.  Many thanks for your support.         
Mark Ryavec
President, Venice Stakeholders Association

P.S. Your financial support for the VSA is also needed. This has been a long and expensive legal battle and legal bills remain. I would greatly appreciate if you would make a tax-deductible contribution to the VSA of $200 or more to help us defray these costs. Contributions can be made by PayPal through our website (venicestakeholdersassociation.org) or sent to 453 Rialto Avenue, Venice, CA  90291.

Links for info on OPD permits