Commissioner Wants to Shelve 'Nutty' Parking Plan

Richard McKinnon will ask his colleagues on the Planning Commission to shelf some radical parking proposals he says have "upset and enraged" residents.

The commissioner has placed a motion on next week's agenda to postpone by one year an update to the city's parking ordinances to give the public ample time to weigh in.

"We can’t just jam this down peoples’ throats," he said.

The ordinance update—which was drawn up by a city consultant who came under fire from local neighborhood groups recently—calls for a big reduction in the amount of parking future developers would have to build. In "transit oriented districts," such as on Montana Avenue and Santa Monica and Wilshire boulevards, the requirements would be scaled back the most.

The theory is if there is less parking, people will be compelled not to drive, and instead to walk, bike or take public transit. The result would be less traffic, according to transportation planning firm NelsonNygaard Consulting Associates.

SEE ALSO: New Parking Plan Treats Montana Like Santa Monica Blvd.

But McKinnon said grouping in Montana, an upscale shopping area filled with small boutiques, with the city's other major thoroughfares is "nutty." His motion includes immediately removing the proposed designation and making the avenue a special district of its own.

"My first thought when I saw the plan was, 'we are going to have five-story supermarkets with no parking?' That can't happen," he said. "Montana Avenue is not a transit district."

Some residents have made the same case.

At a Planning Commission meeting in January, Tricia Crane of Northeast Neighbors, said making Montana Avenue a transit district would be "ridiculous."

Patricia Bauer, vice chairwoman of the North of Montana Association, she said her group has "grave concerns" about the proposal. "I can't imagine a world where the Whole Foods on Montana [would only have] 10 parking spaces," she said. 

If the commission votes to postpone the zoning ordinance update, it would be in the form of a recommendation to the City Council, which has the final say.

If the council goes along with the recommendation, in the next year, McKinnon says he wants city officials to outreach to neighborhood groups and residents to get feedback on the proposals and suggestions for solving parking problems.

In that time, he also wants the city to try some of the proposals on a small scale to see if they actually work.

"It’s important that the commission provide the leadership," he said. "I want people to tell us about the parking in their area and tell us about the solutions. This won’t be a consultant-driven project."

The city manager's office has asked NelsonNygaard to remove one of its principals, Jeffrey Tumlin, from Santa Monica projects after he riled residents by calling them NIMBYs on his resume. It was Tumlin who presented the parking zoning ordinace to the planning commission in January.

McKinnon's motion will be heard at the Planning Commission meeting on April 3. The meeting is at 7 p.m. in council chambers in City Hall.