Results tagged “parking”

USC Broadcast Journalism student Matt Schrader has spent the last three months investigating parking tickets issued for violating street sweeping hours. He finds that tickets are often given on days when sweepers never come by. No surprise there.

--La Peer Drive eastbound turn lane onto Santa Monica Boulevard, from 3 p.m. through 7 a.m. Sunday.

Parking at Santa Monica's 3d Street Promenade might get a little more expensive under a plan the city council is exploring, says the Santa Monica Daily Press:

As Metro works on a subway to the Westside, they are also working on peak hour bus lanes down Wilshire Boulevard to the Santa Monica city line and excluding Beverly Hills. The project aims to improve traffic flow along Wilshire Boulevard, encourage the shift from car to public transit, improve bus travel times and reliability on bus service.

       

As part of the 30 days of vegan event, two vegan women took a parking space in Studio City today in honor of Park[ing] Day, offering some vegan baked goods and ice cream sandwiches.

Keep your eyes peeled for the perfect spot--not to park your car but to park your butt or two feet in a comfy, welcoming, back-to-nature focused space meant to remind us that in all this concrete we need to have some green space. You'll find spaces all over town converted into mini-green getaways, complete with all manner and variety of benches, greenery, decor, motifs, and opportunities to socialize with people from the neighborhood. Hosted by citizens, groups, architecture firms and others, these once-a-year spots are worth checking out today.

It's that time of year again and one that we love. Tomorrow is Park[ing] Day, where citizens, groups, architecture firms and others take a city parking space and turn it into a park. Make sure to visit one of your local parks as it only lasts one day. There's also a bicycle ride touring many of the parks for those with the day off.

Without too much discussion last year, the L.A. City Council raised parking meter fees citywide to at least $1 an hour at all meters. Times were also extended, angering some businesses, especially theatres in the NoHo Arts District where patrons potentially had to leave during intermission or in the middle of the show to refill a meter. A year later, some businesses still see a drop in business with blame towards increased rates, says the Daily News:

The news about the cause of Michael Jackson's death has prompted the LAPD to once again remind the public and media about parking at the Hayvenhurst Estate, which was Jackson's childhood home and current one for family members. The LAPD has been trying to "to strike a balance between the needs of the area residents and the needs of the media to cover the events," they said today in a news release.

It used to be $7, then it was $10 and as of yesterday, parking at Malibu Creek State Park is $12. The same price adjustment can be found at Malibu Lagoon and Leo Carillo thanks to nearly $39 million in state budget cuts that are forcing state park officials to look at every avenue for revenue. Some parks are expected to close, though many could be saved through partnerships with communities and businesses.

In order to keep some--not all--state parks open, California State Parks will be increasing fees beginning next Monday. The move comes after Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed nearly $39 million from parks last month in the state budget. Officials say that it is likely some parks will close, but are seeking to partner with communities and corporations to keep some open.

Earlier this year when Venice residents were fed up with the vehicular homeless taking up the streets with RVs and allegedly dumping water illegally onto lawns and into the streets, the local neighborhood council held an election, ultimately approving overnight parking districts that would limit such activity. But the true legal authority in the manner was the California Coastal Commission who balked, voting against the proposal saying it was not there place to decide on social issues.

Early this morning, 27-year-old Luis Pozos was fatally shot while apparently parking his car. Police found him lying on the curb in the 1700 block of South Longwood Avenue located near the major intersection of La Brea and Venice. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics around 1 a.m. The motive and any suspect descriptions are unknown at this time police are asking for help. Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact Wilshire Homicide Detectives Frank Carrillo or John Shafia at (213) 473-0446. During off-hours, calls may be directed to a 24-hour, toll-free number at1-877-LAPD-24-7 (527-3247). Callers may also anonymously text “Crimes” with a cell phone or log on to www.lapdonline.org and click on Web tips. When using a cell phone, all messages should begin with “LAPD.”

Since last week's death of Michael Jackson, crowds and media have flocked to various locations related to the superstar. In Hollywood, it was his Walk of Fame star; on the Westside, his Holmby Hills rental mansion; and in the Valley, his family home on Hayvenhurst Ave., just off Ventura Blvd.

Some resourcefulness and a little money has gone a long way this past week with the city's Bikeways Department. With parking meters being replaced by the new Park & Pay system kiosks, those meters, which often doubled as handy bicycle parking, were threatened to be taken off the street. Not so fast. In key areas around the city, crews spent four nights last week reconfiguring the meters into the new bicycle meter hitches.

The city is looking into installing new parking meters that could potentially bring in $1 million in additional revenue to help fill the budget gap, but officials say they don’t have enough resources to do so. LADOT told councilmembers at last week’s Transit meeting the plan would not make any money in its first year because the meters would cost $1 million to install. Additionally, officials said the department is already 18 percent understaffed in maintenance technicians, making it harder to collect money and fix existing meters.

Out with the old meters, in with hand-me-down bicycle racks called meter hitches. When the city last year began replacing parking meters with the new pay station ones, that either left headless meters or no meters at all along stress, which meant less options for bicycle parking. Then last night, as part of a pilot project between the Department of Transportation and Council President Eric Garcetti's office, came 52 new bicycle meter hitches on Hollywood Boulevard between La Brea and Vine.

For the fourth time in recent months, the City Council's Transportation Committee tomorrow will take on a handful of bicycle issues continued on from last week's meeting. Consultants from Alta Planning are slated to speak about the bicycle plan, which has recently become an unpopular subject with many cyclists. The LAPD will also be present to talk about their relationship with the bicycling community. Also on the dock is the continuing look at reviving a version of the defunct bicycle licensing program, which many believe should be left to the private sector.

The Department of Street Services doesn’t have the authority to remove abandoned bikes on the 3,000 city-owned bike racks in L.A., officials say. Many business owners complain about the eyesore of bicycle skeletons left on racks in front of their stores, but current laws don’t allow the city to touch them. During this week’s Transportation Committee meeting, cyclists suggested creating a system for bikes similar to car parking meters and time limit enforcements, and doing away with the ban on parking bikes on meters.

Neko Case at the Greek Theatre on Friday and the 31st Annual Playboy Jazz Festival Saturday and Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl reminded us of how much we appreciate the summer outdoor concert season.

it's been a long battle between permanent residents and the new mobile permanent residents of Venice. With the streets filling up with RVs and some allegedly dumping water waste (in the literal sense, too), on lawns and into the streets, residents wanted to limit the amount of overnight and RV parking in the neighborhood. It's what the residents ultimately voted for and what California Coastal Commission staffed urged. Nonetheless, Commission members voted against restrictions, saying it was not their "job to be the balance between homeless and residents.” Therefore, RVs stay put for now. We posted a good "catching up" video on this subject a couple weeks ago.

The County tried to regulate the time a taco trucks could operate in one place and lost. On Friday, a similar, but lesser known Los Angeles city ordinance from 2006 was struck down by a judge. Last December, a taco truck owner received a $150 parking ticket from the city's Department of Transportation for violating the law. He and a group of attorneys and students from UCLA Law School's clinical program challenged the ticket in an administrative hearing, but lost. They appealed to LA County Superior Court and won with no city attorneys present at the hearing.

Streetsblogger Damien Newton is not happy with the most recent Dodgers free parking promotion, which will run during the series against the Oakland A's June 16-18, saving you $15. Newton's problem is that the Dodgers earlier this year refused to fund the public transportation shuttle between the stadium and Union Station, a program that began just last year. Here are his thoughts plus math: "Well, now it's official. The Dodgers don't consider people that don't own cars part of their fan base. For the record, the Dodgers parking lot fits 16,000 cars. At $15 a pop, they are losing more revenue with this three day promotion to 'all their fans' then they would have spent funding the bus service from Union Station to Dodger Stadium for the entire season." But will the A's games fill up the parking lot?

News of increased parking rates--yeah, $15--at The Getty Center and Villa effective July 1st did not go over so well with some people. So today, they announced that it will be free after 5 p.m. on Saturday nights when the Getty Center is open 'til 9 p.m. The Getty Villa is not open Saturdays, so it does not apply there. Of course, museum admission has always and will always be free so if you can get there car free, none of this matters.

Venice attracts a lot of people and has always had a number of vehicular homeless along its streets. More recently, thanks to the economy, the number of RVs, minivans and other vehicles housing people without a traditional home, have increased so much, that residents want to create overnight parking districts, effectively eliminating the problem... well, from their neighborhood, at least. KCET's SoCal Connected explored the issue last week in this above segment.

Enforceable times at parking meters are still confusing residents as LADOT makes it way through the city updating extended times at signs and meters. The problem? Here's an example: a sign on West 3rd Street says "2 Hour Parking 8am to 6pm Except Sunday” but corresponding meters say Mon-Sat 8am-8pm and Sunday 11am-8pm, notes Tasha Nita Adams at her blog Blackburn & Sweetzer. This is an issue LAist looked at back in January and we thought all signs would be updated by now... apparently not. "It would be inappropriate [to ticket] without the new signs," the department spokesman Bruce Gilman explained back then.

Apparently, an East Hollywood woman had a crew come out last year Fourth of July to remove a city curb for a big private driveway. Alyssa Romano, resident and fourplex building owner on the 1100 block N. Westmoreland Avenue, did not obtain a permit for her illegal driveway. Curbed LA reports:

At yesterday's city council meeting, a nearly unanimous vote prompted a half million dollar study on whether the city should sell its parking meters and six city parking garages to help fill massive budget gaps. The one councilman who stood up for common sense was the Northwest Valley's Greig Smith. "We're selling property at the bottom of the market. What a stupid idea," he said. "If we were stockbrokers, we'd be in jail with Bernie Madoff for this kind of scheme. This is foolhardy economics." Will JP Morgan Chase own Los Angeles' meters someday soon? The parking lots in question include Hollywood & Highland complex, Pershing Square and the Cinerama Dome.

Los Angeles, meet the 761 Metro Rapid. The CNG-fueled bus takes you right to the front gates of the Getty from either Westwood or Sherman Oaks. Round trip? $2.50 or $5 if you're transferring from another bus. Why start taking the bus? Well, the Getty is raising the parking rate once again, this time to $15. "The Getty likes to call itself a museum accessible to the whole city, but it's starting to sound more like a Bel-Air hilltop institution," sniped Kevin Roderick at LA Observed. Nevertheless, the economy has got everyone in a crunch and this is the second time in a year that the fee has gone up. Museum admission will remain free and the parking fee increase also affects the Getty Villa location.

Earlier this year, Council President Eric Garcetti's office hosted a bicycle rack competition for artists to design bicycle racks for East Hollywood. Today, after city and community input, Melrose Hills artist Forester Rudolph and his SpokesQuotes design were announced as the winner.