Lomita residents' parking plea denied

CITY HALL— The council Tuesday did not act on a request from Lomita Avenue residents who wanted permit parking on their street, opting to direct traffic officials to gather more information on parking availability in the area.

City traffic engineers will explore the concerns of Lomita Avenue residents along with a broader look into parking in the neighborhood near Jordan Middle School, where some complain that use of athletic fields is causing parking shortages, city traffic engineer Ken Johnson said.

"Like many instances, we have two or three or four or five people from a block of maybe 30 or 40 homes who are really irritated, rightly so, about the parking associated with the soccer and the football activities — because it draws a lot of people," he said.

But implementing a permit-parking system on Lomita would merely push cars to nearby streets, which would do little to mitigate parking concerns in the neighborhood as a whole, he said.

Rather than moving toward a permit-parking arrangement, further study into the matter will give the council more information to make a decision, City Manager Mary Alvord said.

"I think the only way for the council to make an informed decision is for us to use the next four weeks when the usage is at its highest to come back to you with valid information," Alvord said.

In an effort to help alleviate parking shortages on several streets in the area, Burbank Unified School District officials recently opened a faculty parking lot on the Jordan campus, freeing up space for weekends, Alvord said.

District officials also closed the Oak Street gate to the campus to discourage drivers from parking on Lomita and other residential streets, she said.

"The good news for the people on Lomita is that gate is being locked, so it's actually encouraging the participants to go in on the Mariposa [Street] side," she said.

There are also plans to pave another parking lot at the south end of the playing fields, adding 70 more spaces, Johnson said.

"That's a lot of parking, actually," he said.

"And if we can use it properly and appropriately, then I think we'll go a long way to alleviating the fears of the folks on Lomita and other streets along there."

With field usage expected to continue through August and September, traffic officials monitor parking in the area and work with organizers from sports associations that use the fields, he said.

"We just need time and opportunity to explore some of these things," he said.

"Hopefully if we can figure it out, maybe it will be a win-win for everybody. We can make it happen for everybody."