Parking Spaces

Culver City has approved an interim ordinance that requires developers to provide 3.5 parking spaces for three-bedroom units in multifamily dwellings, replacing an earlier requirement of 2.5 spaces. Councilman Steven Gourley, who requested the stricter limits, said many three-bedroom apartments are rented by groups of adults, who tend to have more cars, than by families with young children.

The parking lot behind Hollywood landmark restaurant Musso & Frank Grill was purchased by a Los Angeles developer who intends to build a mixed-use complex on the site. Champion Real Estate Co. bought the paved 1.1-acre site behind the Hollywood Boulevard restaurant and between Cherokee and Las Palmas avenues from Common Fund. The price was not disclosed, but Hollywood real estate experts familiar with the property valued it at nearly $10 million. Last year, Champion paid $20 million for a 2.76-acre property at the northeast corner of Highland and Selma avenues, which it also intends to develop.

The City Council voted 3 to 1 Monday to draft an ordinance that would reduce the maximum number of compact-car parking spaces allowed for businesses from 50% to 30% of the spaces provided. The ordinance, which would affect only new construction, would include an exemption for employers with more than 100 parking spaces, such as Northrop Corp. and Mattel. City Manager R. Kenneth Jue said Northrop officials persuaded the city that large companies should be excluded from the change.

Community volunteer David Nott had taken middle school students on an urban hike through Silver Lake before, but they stumbled across something unexpected during a recent excursion - a roughly 11,000-square-foot area designed just for people on foot. "Look!" Nott said to the handful of 11- and 12-year-old students, pointing to the newly built pedestrian- and bike-only Sunset Triangle Plaza. "This has become a social environment," he said. Billed as Los Angeles' first "street-to-plaza" conversion, much of the new park originally was a two-lane swath of pavement that carried motorists along Griffith Park Boulevard.

To offset a recent increase in passenger traffic and a decrease in the amount of available parking, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday authorized the leasing of up to 400 parking spaces from Lockheed Corp. The spaces, situated about half a mile from the airport, will be assigned to airport and airline employees, freeing airport parking spaces for travelers, authority staff members said.

The Redevelopment Agency has postponed for two weeks a decision on a request by Bally's Holiday Health Club to operate a club downtown without the required number of parking spaces. Bally's wants to convert a vacant, 34,000-square-foot commercial building at 210 W. Lexington Drive into a health club that is expected to draw about 2,500 members. However, the building has spaces for 78 vehicles where 170 spaces are required. An exception would be one of the largest ever granted in the city.

Patrons of the Platt Library have complained for five years about a lack of parking, but the City Council approved an agreement with the county Tuesday that officials say will solve that problem. A parcel of county flood-control land next to the library, situated at 23600 Victory Blvd., will be available to double the library's parking, under the agreement brokered by Councilwoman Laura Chick and County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

The Santa Clarita City Council approved tough regulations requiring more parking spaces in new commercial and residential developments, despite objections from developers who said the standards would raise construction costs. The parking regulations, unanimously approved late Tuesday night, also require larger parking spaces. The width of a standard parking space will increase from eight feet to nine feet, exceeding the Los Angeles County standard of 8 1/2 feet. Council members praised the new ordinance, saying a shortage of parking spaces is inconvenient for thousands of Santa Clarita motorists.

The head of a group of Los Angeles County prosecutors on Monday criticized a plan to reduce downtown parking spaces available to prosecutors by 35%, predicting it will lead to the release of criminals. In a letter dated Aug. 24 to the Board of Supervisors, David Ross, president of the Assn. of Deputy District Attorneys, said the quality of cases prepared for trial will suffer.

While motorists might think parking spaces are eternally hard to find, a new study of downtown Glendale shows that despite the recent opening of the Alex Theater and other businesses, the area has ample parking--it just isn't being put to its best use. The study, conducted for the Glendale Redevelopment Agency by a private consultant, covered the entire downtown from the Ventura Freeway to Colorado Street.

They stand at the curb, waving a red rag like an urban matador. "Hay lugar, hay lugar!" they call to passing motorists. ("There's space. ") And then: "Viene, viene. " Come, come, as they guide you into an impossibly tight parking spot, and finally charge you the equivalent of 3 or 4 cents for their service. They are the franeleros , the ubiquitous men, and sometimes women, who control parking on many Mexico City streets, blocking off spaces, even though most of those streets are public and gratis.

A section of Long Beach's popular Retro Row soon will be giving customers a different kind of curbside treatment. Three businesses have won city approval to convert a few highly valued parking spaces along the 4th Street corridor into green space, joining a national trend led by San Francisco, where the number of so-called parklets jumped from six in 2010 to more than 20 now. Construction of Long Beach's parklets — the first in Southern California,...

The State Lands Commission has approved the boundaries for Marina Park in Newport Beach, bringing the Balboa Peninsula public waterfront development one step closer to construction. The city can now complete its California Coastal Commission application and restart the long-stalled project. Park advocates, city officials and others decided on a plan for the development more than three years ago, but it has been stuck in a bureaucratic morass. In the meantime, residents of the 57 mobile homes were afforded more time on public land, while others protested the slow progress.

Location: 9353 Nightingale Drive, Los Angeles 90069 Asking price: $13.8 million Size: Four bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 7,022 square feet Lot size: 13,530 square feet Additional features: Two-story home theater, two-story wine cellar that holds 1,000 bottles, bar, elevator, five parking spaces, pool and spa, outdoor kitchen, eating area and fire pit, panoramic views Around the neighborhood: ...

Imagine feeling in control when you fly instead of feeling like a powerless pawn. Or picture yourself avoiding the hotel's crowded front desk by checking into your hotel using your smart phone. Or envision yourself finding a parking space — a parking space! — on the first try. That's a little of what technology brings to the travel party. Looking ahead, here are some examples of the ways it has transformed (and will continue to change) your life. Air travel It's not unusual to get a call or a text announcing that your flight is delayed.

The top financial advisor to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Wednesday that the city would need to stop hiring police officers if the City Council abandons plans to lease nine public parking garages to a private operator. City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana issued his warning as he recommended that council members press ahead with plans to find a company to run the garages, including three in Hollywood, for the next 50 years. Officials had hoped to secure up to $300 million from the deal.

Hoping to draw more shoppers into the city, the City Council agreed this week to shrink parking spaces in commercial and retail centers. The ordinance reduces the minimum size for a standard parking space by six inches, a move applauded by commercial property owners in the city. "My feeling is that it would enhance shopping in Lake Forest," said Ray Gelgur, owner of the Civic Center Plaza, a retail/commercial plaza where City Hall is located.

Los Angeles County planning commissioners have recommended approval of a controversial plan to build more retail, restaurant, office and housing on parking lots in Marina del Rey. County staff, however, bowed to public protests on the most controversial element of the plan as it was presented in November: the loss of parking spaces on the northern edge of Mother's Beach. The Mother's Beach parking lot is used by kayakers and boaters to access the marina, which is owned by the county.

Amid the bargains, holiday music and free eggnog, chaos reigned at shopping spots around the nation Friday. Retailers found reason to celebrate as big crowds gathered even before Thursday's turkeys were carved. But for many mall visitors, it was an event more to be endured than enjoyed; parking was all but impossible, and many of the best deals disappeared quickly. Black Friday has become a day when dedicated shoppers employ creative strategies to secure deals, often working in electronically connected teams armed with lists carefully crafted through advance scouting trips and detailed analysis of advertising circulars.