Preferential Parking District established to control overflow Palisades Village shoppers.
By Tor Marom
As of December 3, the “alphabet streets” area of Pacific Palisades now has an enforced Preferential Parking District (PPD) to prevent residents from having issues parking in front of their own homes. Announced in Councilmember Mike Bonin’s November “Neighborhoods First Newsletter,” the implementation of a permit-only parking area has come in response to longtime complaints from members of the community.
“The new PPD was requested by neighbors and it will be a relief for the community as we enter the holiday shopping season,” the newsletter stated. “Thank you to Pacific Palisades Community Council area representative Sue Kohl for her work to get things done for the neighborhood.”
Residents on these streets have had issues with parking for years. Russell Evans, an “alphabet streets” resident, shared that prior to any parking enforcement, residents had to deal with all manner of issues. Local business employees would park all day, people would drink in their cars – littering beer cans, and due to the constant congestion of parked cars, the streets began to get dirty.
Sue Kohl, another resident in the area, said that the recent opening of the new Palisades Village only made the parking situation worse.
“The residents of the streets close to the Village have been suffering for years, with employees parking all day in front of homes,” Kohl said. “The situation only became worse with [Rick] Caruso’s new Palisades Village.”
While issues of commercial visitors taking residential parking has been ongoing for years, the opening of Caruso’s Palisades Village had merely exacerbated the problem. Prior to this change, the regulations in this residential area only allowed two-hour parking during the day. While this helped ensure that visitors and employees had to move their cars at the very least every two hours, it also forced residents to make extra efforts to avoid getting ticketed in front of their own homes. The new PPD institutes two-hour parking from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with no parking outside of those times. Residents with parking permits will be allowed to park at any time without any restrictions.
Another resident, Ted Weitz, is very happy with the change, telling the Palisades News that it will hopefully restore a sense of community in the neighborhood.
“After balancing both the costs and benefits of the program, neighbors on our street overwhelmingly supported the district due to the new development’s proximity and the adverse impacts that had already been experienced from this commercial area,” Weitz said. “The availability to park near your own house and the restoration of quiet in the evening hours have restored a sense of neighborhood for those in the preferential parking district.”
While residents seem very pleased with the reduction of parking congestion, Evans shared that some people who live on streets which fall outside of the Preferential Parking District are concerned that all of the congestion will merely be pushed closer to them. Whether this will become an issue will likely reveal itself in the upcoming weeks.
Evans also stated that he wishes for the Caruso development to do more to encourage visitors to use the parking provided by the Palisades Village, which would hopefully cut down on the cluster as well.
Weitz shared this sediment, adding that that new PPD will hopefully bring harmony between business and commercial interests in the Palisades.
“It has reduced some traffic chaos from people hunting for parking spaces, and am hopeful it will also provide a sense of added safety,” Weitz said. “This is a step towards assuring harmony between the residential and commercial areas.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.