The West Hollywood Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to recommend the City Council approve a sweeping overhaul of the City’s parking rules, one that would eliminate all minimum parking requirements citywide, allow parking spaces in residential buildings to be rented separately from apartments, and let property owners share underutilized parking with outside users, including nearby businesses.
The vote was 7-0. But like a lot of commission votes lately, the unanimity on the resolution masked the unease of some about what the policy actually means for WeHo residents, especially older ones and ones living with disabilities.
The changes are driven by two state bills — AB 1317, which requires parking in qualifying new residential buildings to be offered as a separate cost from rent, and AB 894, which requires cities to allow underutilized parking to be shared with outside parties. Both took effect this year. West Hollywood’s current zoning code conflicts with both. The commission’s job Thursday night was to fix that. What nobody expected was how uncomfortable fixing it would turn out to be…