Local News in Brief : Panel Backs Parking at Illegally Built Lot

A Los Angeles City Council committee gave preliminary approval Tuesday to public use of an illegally built mini-mall parking lot that has sparked complaints from Studio City community leaders.

The council’s Planning and Environment Committee voted 2 to 0 to allow mall owner Martin Bender to begin parking cars on the paved 23-car lot. It was built last year without a city permit on residentially zoned land at the corner of Fruitland Drive and Sunshine Terrace.

The Studio City Residents Assn. had urged that the lot be dug up and permanently closed. The group filed an appeal in hope of blocking a city zoning variance issued in December that legalized the lot.

Association president Polly Ward said authorizing use of the lot would send “a message out that it’s perfectly OK to create a parking lot in a residential zone.”

Nita Millstein, who lives west of the lot, also urged that it be removed. She warned of potential noise and traffic problems for her residential area, a block south of Ventura Boulevard.

But other nearby residents supported use of the parking area. They said it could help solve a serious neighborhood parking problem and at the same time eliminate a vacant lot that has been an eyesore.

Homeowners Meg and Brent Seltzer, who live next to the lot, said a weekend survey of their neighborhood showed that 76% of those contacted favor opening the lot for public use.

Committee members Mike Woo and Hal Bernson upheld the variance, which is expected to receive routine final approval of the full council on March 30.