Having won a victory by getting the rainbow flag to fly atop West Hollywood’s City Hall, resident Larry Block has moved onto another battle – the extended parking meter hours.
With enforcement of the extended hours due to start on Sept. 3, Block appeared before the West Hollywood City Council Monday night protesting the notices the city was giving residents about the impending changes to the meter hours.
Holding up a 6 by 10 inch piece of paper that he said had been taped to a parking meter, Block chastised the city.
“This is not adequate notice,” said Block who owns the Block Party clothing store at 8853 Santa Monica Blvd. at Larrabee. “The only person who can see this sign is the person putting money in the meter.”
Block urged the council to delay enforcement of the meters for an additional 30 days and to get much larger signs, ones that will be noticed by people walking down the street.
Councilmember Jeffrey Prang agreed the tiny signs were not sufficient, and that substantially bigger ones are needed.
“Otherwise, we’re going to have lines of angry people coming to yell at us about getting a ticket,” said Prang.
City Manager Paul Arevalo said that in addition to the 6 by 10 inch notices being taped to the parking meters, they were also placed on the windshields of cars parked at the metered spaces. He said signs were being placed on poles as well.
Starting Sept. 3, parking meter hours will be enforced Monday-Saturday from 8 a.m. until:
Midnight on the city’s westside (between Doheny Drive and La Cienega Boulevard).
10 p.m. in “center city” (between La Cienega and Fairfax Avenue).
8 p.m. on the city’s eastside (between Fairfax Avenue and La Brea Avenue).
On Sundays, meters will be enforced from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the city.
Along Sunset Boulevard, parking meters will continue to be enforced until 2 a.m., a policy the city began in 2001.
Councilmember John D’Amico, who is on record as opposing the extended meter hours, pointed out that the new free PickUp Line shuttle along Santa Monica Boulevard begins operations next Friday, Aug. 16. He encouraged people to park on the eastside of town where meter enforcement ends at 8 p.m. and to take the PickUp Line to the bars and restaurants on the westside of town.
meters are legal thieves anyway-limit the punishment. getting out of hand
The folks on the East Side will NOT put up with a bunch of drunk revelers walking back to their cars. Drunks are noisy. Until my block went with permit parking, we had drunks walking back to their cars nightly from the bars down the street. It was not pleasant. It just shows that the City doesn’t give a damn about the East Side.
I heard the free party shuttle doesn’t go past Fairfax. Is that true? If so, If you park on the East Side you will have to walk to City Center to catch the free trolley and then at 2:00am you will have to walk back to your car from Fairfax. Wonder why those folks over on the East Side put up with that treatment?
Just for the record, there was no ill will or chastising of the city. The city council members are not really in charge of the notices posted but they can protect and make sure that the public receives adequate notice. Which as stated in weho.org, notices would be posted.. well these are no notices posted,.. just new signs on the meters that are 6 inches tall…
Remember you had to ‘win the lotto’ to get a parking space. Now you have to ‘win the lotto’ to read the new parking signs. That was the point.
Confirming my enduring belief that the City Council – the font of wisdom in our little burgh, sees The Blighted East Side as one large parking facility. Feh.