STUDIO CITY : MCA May Revise Parking Garage Plans

MCA Inc. plans negotiations on a controversial proposal to build a 10-story parking garage on a Studio City hillside, an MCA official said Thursday.

Christine Hanson, vice president of corporate communications, said she had no comment on whether MCA would consider something other than the structure now proposed for an area northeast of the Hollywood Freeway between Lankershim Boulevard and Universal City Drive.

“We are revisiting all of our alternatives in-house,” Hanson said. “That’s all I can say.”

Hanson said lines of communications will be reopened with neighbors and the company’s Citizens Advisory Group, which is intended to keep the community abreast of MCA projects and activities.

“We’ve had this community outcry, and now we’re going to say, ‘Let’s sit down and figure out what the problems are and see how we can solve them,’ ” she said. “We are open to dialogue with the neighbors. We want to get some input.”

Hanson said talks could begin within two weeks.

Opposition to the garage had been mounting among area residents since plans for the structure were tentatively approved by the environmental section of the Planning Department in April.

Earlier this month, a public hearing at which MCA was expected to request permission to build the 1-million-square-foot structure in an area zoned as residential was postponed at the company’s request. Among the items slated for discussion was a request by a Studio City residents association that a formal environmental review be done on the garage, which would be used by employees of Universal Studios, an MCA subsidiary.

Polly Ward, vice president of the Studio City Residents Assn. and a member of the Citizens Advisory Group, had earlier criticized MCA for failing to make plans for the garage clear. But Ward said she is encouraged by recent events.

“I think it can be a good two-way street again” she said. “And I think there will be some changes in that proposal.”