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Cars line up along curbs in Westwood, filling metered parking areas. UCLA Professor Donald Shoup

There is “no shortage of parking” in Westwood Village, says Professor Donald Shoup from the Department of Urban Planning.

Many living and working in the area would disagree.

While businesses and patrons invariably point to the lack of parking as one of the Village’s most pressing problems, Shoup said the solution does not lie in increasing the number of parking spaces or in making them more affordable.

On the contrary, he advocates an increase in curbside meter parking rates. Such an increase would open up more curb spaces and decrease congestion and pollution.

The professor’s idea is one of several being considered as solutions to the Village’s parking dilemma.

Westwood business owners and city agencies also have their own proposals.

Shoup says current meter rates are priced too low, causing drivers to cruise around in search of a valuable open space.

This cruising contributes to traffic congestion, air pollution and wasted fuel.

Raising meter rates would discourage drivers from parking on the street and thus increase the number of available spaces for those willing to pay for them.

Shoup said the city, and Westwood in particular, should “think of curb parking the way a parking lot operator does.”

Under the professor’s proposal, Westwood would use parking meters as a source of revenue.

The additional money collected from the increased rates would then be used to provide everyone with 90 minutes of free parking in private lots and structures. It could also be used for street improvements.

The professor said his idea is a “marginal change that everyone can understand.”

He points to the example of Old Town Pasadena, which was slated for demolition 1979 because of its dilapidated condition.

Following a plan similar to Shoup’s, in the ’90s Old Town Pasadena used parking meter revenues to subsidize off-street parking and to beautify the area.

Such efforts have turned Old Town into a commercial success.

Jeff Abel, owner of Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers and a leading Westwood merchant, said the professor’s proposal is “a good idea if you can get the city to cooperate.”

Abel said Westwood had participated in a similar program in the past, but the city was reluctant to invest revenues from the parking meters back into Westwood.

“It was an amazing mess,” Abel said.

The city ended up using the funds to build the subsidized parking structure on Broxton Avenue.

Abel is pushing for a new Business Improvement District to alleviate parking problems.

The last BID ended last fall by Councilman Jack Weiss, who represents Los Angeles’ Fifth District, including Westwood.

The new BID Abel favors would create a “more equitable” parking validation system.

According to Abel, participation in the validation system run by the old BID was low because the payments made by the BID to the parking lots were “fairly minimal.”

Abel also wants the BID “to work on more permanent things” such as purchasing property to build a parking structure.

Under his proposal the BID would collect assessments from Village businesses to raise funds.

Abel said political support would help Westwood, but Councilman Weiss “has not made that kind of effort.”

After numerous phone calls Weiss was unavailable for comment.

Bertha Benitez, manager of the gift store Aahs!, said she does not “think anyone is taking any steps” to improve the parking situation.

She said increasing the number of parking structures would relieve the current lack of spaces, although that prospect seems unlikely.

“Nobody wants to make their building a parking structure,” she said.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation said it has been working closely with Weiss’ office to formulate plans for Westwood.

Principal Transportation Engineer Alan Willis said he has been “meeting with (Weiss) almost weekly.”

Willis’ office has been working on ideas to improve parking in Westwood. Plans will be finalized in four to six weeks, although any changes would not be implemented for at least another six months.

Willis said his office has been looking into opening more spaces and adjusting parking rate levels and schedules.

Echoing Professor Shoup’s comments, Willis said parking meter rates are “out of balance.”

He said, “the curb spaces are the premium spaces and ... should be priced the highest.”

Willis said his office is looking into the implementation of multi-space meters, which would accept credit cards and currency as well as coins.

With multi-space meters, each stretch of street would have only one meter. Drivers would pay at the meter and receive a ticket to display on their dash.

Drivers can then park anywhere on that part of the street, much like residential street parking.

Willis expects multi-space meters to increase vehicle capacity by 10 to 15 percent.