Several dozen WeHo residents came out to Plummer Park on Sunday to protest the impending loss of parking spots on Gardner and East Side streets to accommodate protected bicycle lanes.
Gardner residents like Chris and Tania were completely blindsided to learn what was coming.
“We found out, quite randomly, by seeing a group of angry neighbors standing on the corner, that they’re about to remove all of our parking spaces,” Chris said. “Parking in our area is already insane. We already double-park on top of our own spaces legally as a courtesy to the rest of the neighborhood to try to keep those spots for the people who live there.”
Like many in the neighborhood, both Chris, a music producer, and Tania, a makeup artist for film and TV, depend on the spots for themselves and for their clients.
@wehoonline These Gardner Street residents are furious their parking spots are being sacrificed for bike lanes in #weho ♬ original sound – WehoOnline
“We have 10 units in our building and we only have five parking places,” Tania said. “So if we lost our spaces, we would be fighting over more public spaces. I would have to park farther away. I carry a lot of gear when I go on set, so it would definitely impact going to work for me. And it’s just going to create a lot of tension when you come home, trying to find a place all of a sudden when I had a dedicated one that’s just going to be gone.”
Worst of all, they say the city has never advised them of the project.
“I’ve lived here 12 years, some people have lived here for 30, 40 years who don’t even know what’s happening,” Chris said.
City staff reluctantly admitted they hadn’t let neighbors know about the loss of parking when City Council was deliberating the project at their March 18 meeting. Still, Mayor John M. Erickson, Vice Mayor Chelsea Byers and Councilmember Sepi Shyne decided to proceed with the plans.
“I do not want to compromise on cyclist safety for motorist convenience. Period,” Byers said, rejecting an option that would have kept the parking spots. “I am happily in favor of inconveniencing motorists and I’ll say that all day if it promotes the safety of cyclists.”
Cathy Blaivis was one of the organizers of Sunday afternoon’s meeting.
“Losing 22 parking spaces on a street, regardless of their statistics, is constantly over-parked, meaning it’s not just the parking spaces, it’s the spaces behind the driveways,” said Blaivis, who emphasized that the meeting was not meant to determine whether the bike lanes were a good idea. “(The city) did not do their due diligence.”
@wehoonline♬ original sound – WehoOnline
@wehoonline♬ original sound – WehoOnline
Councilmember Lauren Meister, the only councilmember to attend the meeting, agreed that outreach had been insufficient, and she encouraged the neighbors to voice their opposition as loudly as they can. She noted that the new streetscape project approach to Fountain Avenue would be a more holistic approach than the originally conceived bike lane pilot project, which would have cost 150 parking spaces.
She lamented the attitude toward the project among her colleagues and in City Hall.
“They’re all talking as if this was a done deal and it is not a done deal,” Meister said. “But we need your voices and we need you to be very involved from this point forward because they don’t listen to me, you know, they’ll not listen to an individual councilmember.”
Follow the money, she said, pointing to the influence of special interest groups over some of her colleagues — groups such as the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition.
@wehoonline♬ original sound WehoOnline
“I love the Coalition,” Meister said. “They took me on a bike ride. I thought I was going to die on Fountain. I totally understand the issues, but they are a strong coalition for, really in the scheme of things, very few stakeholders that are actually using these roads.”
Kevin Burton, representing the coalition, was on hand to try to assuage the crowd’s fears about the bike lanes and loss of parking — but his words were met with deep skepticism.
Burton suggested restricted permit parking as a solution to the problem, a proposal neighbors promptly shot down.
[…] city was recently criticized for not publicizing its push to build bike lanes, which Byers referenced during her […]
The sheer arrogance of Nazi Beyers and her dismissive arrogant tone toward the people who live and work and drive and park in this crowded, urban city is unconscionable. If our city council members are going to dismiss and ignore the citizens or West Hollywood, then the citizens of West Hollywood must rise up demand an immediate RECALL election and special election to replace them with city council members who will actually respond and act in the well-being of city residents, not some leftist ideal of bicycles and butterflies and living outside of the reality of what parking and traffic… Read more »
Well they are adding/fixing bike lanes because maybe people have been hit by cars. I think getting rid of parking or adding anything pedestrian friendly is the way to go so either move to a neighborhood or building that has included parking and don’t depend on city public parking or encourage your customers and you yourself use public transportation or even walk.
I heard an Amish family moved to Weho this month and Breyers wants to install a horse and buggy lane in addition to the bike lane. It’s all about inclusion said the car hating Marxist vice mayor.
You gotta give Meister credit. At least she shows up.
You gotta give Meister credit. She shows up.
“Land is expensive for housing but free for parking, and you wonder why we have a problem?”
– Donald Shoup, American Engineer & Professor in Urban Planning
That’s pretty much the gist of this whole thing. If parking is scarce and requires a lot of time to find a spot, WeHo should be charging more money for this valuable resource.
Weho already charges $4 an hour for meter parking that’s already outrageous.
The naïveté of this is absurd. Our property taxes are $13,000 a year, that SHOULD cover parking in front of our domicile.
If this is how the powers that be at The City imagine they will encourage biking rather than cars, they are, sadly, wrong. No one is going to switch to a bike just because we !!!!NOW HAVE BIKE LANES!!!!! OMG -are we cool or what? Note this: REALLY GOOD Bike riders know how to use the road too and how to follow the commingling of cars and bikes. Look at Europe and how the do it. Look at any city with a university or college. US college towns have conscientious bike riders because the city itself is trained for the… Read more »
65% of residents on fountain was for protected bike lanes from the pool done even knowing parking will be reduced. The majority support protected bike lanes.
What study was this? When was it taken and what organization sponsored the study? Where was it conduct and what were the parameters?
Exactly
Yes. We are all for no parking our vehicles outside our homes on Fountain. I for one can’t wait for the reduced lanes and parking. I don’t ride a bike but look forward to seeing the three bikers ride by as I hike to my car a mile away.
😂
Agree. Outreach for these projects started in 2022 and there was plenty of time for the community to voice their opinions. The workshops that happened back then were overwhelming in support of these safety projects. They will make the neighborhood and WeHo a better place to live.
For whom will it be a better place to live? In 2022 Weho government was still in pandemic mode, council and commission meetings were held online and questions + any objections especially with council and commission positions were filtered out and not acknowledged; a common practice for my city of choice during that time. There was little opposition to anything. In addition, impact reports were scarce and not shared with constituents. So whom has stated that the removal of a vehicular lane each direction and removal of parking spaces on Fountain will make life better? Really? Who?
If that’s the case then easier to voice your opinion and be part of it. Many are screaming now when thy sat it out and didn’t give a damn them and now scream and complain. This is regardless a good move, pedestrian safety over cars is the way to go any day.
What are YOU smokin’?
But, Tom, one of the points is but when you do OUTREACH and do not include the fact that the plan will take away 56% of the parking how are the residents suppose “voice their opinions?” Are they supposed to ask “Hey, city planners, are you taking away our parking???”
That survey was inaccurate. The city did NOT ask the people who lived in the area that would be affected.
Wealthy West Hollywood Business Owner: “Boo-hoo not enough parking for my eurotrash fossil fuel internal combustion environmental ruining ostentatious status boosting vehicles.” 😭
The Rest of West Hollywood: Hey consider getting a bicycle 🚲 , an electric scooter 🛴 or, taking public transit 🚈 ❗ 🤣
🎉👏🏽Mayor John M. Erickson, Vice Mayor Chelsea Byers and Councilmember Sepi Shyne.🏆
Hey Cy…what kind of bike do you ride instead a car…wjich I assume you do not own?
This half ass idea to build bike lane on Fountain is not only ridicules but will create a false sense of security if it is built. Pretty White Lines do nothing to offer safety. But on top of all of this insane idea it’s not just the citizens of West Hollywood that will be affected but the residents of Los Angeles as well who live and park on Fountain Ave. For some strange reason the deciding line is not in the middle of Fountain Ave. but instead at the north curb line. So one could live in Los Angeles with… Read more »
And so what do we do about parking on Gardner in particular, and WeHo in general? We can’t accept/allow the state legislature to override zoning laws to maintain a village-like atmosphere in 1.9 sq miles with City Council blocked in to approving smaller, high-rise cracker boxes with inadequate square footage units and inadequate subterranean parking. If B.H. and La Cañada-Flintridge can successfully wiggle out of the overbearing housing unit requirements, so can we. If we don’t succeed in being an adequately housed and parkable City, we will continue becoming further squashed into tinier units with less parking than we suffer… Read more »
Well stated, Lee
The whole place is corrupted. So much so, even Anwar has crossed over to the dark side.