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Council approves Downtown parking-management item, directs DOT review of East–West Olympic Link project
Summary
The Los Angeles City Council approved a downtown parking-management action with an amendment requiring the Department of Transportation to review the East–West Olympic Boulevard linkage work that the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) had been leading; the vote addressed a same-day MTA grant-execution deadline.
The Los Angeles City Council on Feb. 29 approved a downtown parking-management item and added instructions for the Department of Transportation to review related work on the East–West Olympic Boulevard connector.
Councilmember Hernandez offered an amendment that required the Transportation Department to present recommendations when the matter returns to committee, saying, "I would think that parking management is best in the hands of our Department of Transportation." Jeff Carpenter, Community Redevelopment Agency staff, told the council the CRA had obtained a seed grant for the East–West Olympic Boulevard Connector but "has found itself unable to proceed, because it lacked the senior engineering staff." Carpenter said the agency had tried to find another city department to assume responsibility.
The amendment grew from concern that grant funds were on a same-day deadline for execution with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Carpenter said there was "a deadline of today, to execute the grant agreement for the 4 MTA projects" obligated in the current fiscal year. Hernandez asked that, when the matter returns, DOT provide a presentation on the best way to manage parking and the linkage plan.
Councilmembers and CRA staff described overlapping parking projects — separate parking-management work for Staples Center and the convention center, plus the CRA's peripheral-parking policy — and emphasized the need for a clear lead agency. CRA described itself as having taken initial responsibility because of its peripheral-parking policy but said the intent is to move the long-term administration and engineering oversight to the city's regular departments.
Council approved the amended item on a voice roll-call vote recorded as 11 ayes.
The council instructed that the item return through the Transportation Committee with a DOT review and presentation when the schedule allows. The immediate action permitted the agency to meet the MTA grant-execution deadline; subsequent work, including any zoning or ordinance changes, will return to committee for further review.
