Street Widening Rules Need More Time

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — An interesting motion came through the City Council referal document today. You might recall that back to July Jan Perry asked for street widening requirements to be examined in pedestrian-oriented zones. That process is moving, but not very quickly, and in the mean-time projects like Elleven are coming close to opening.

The new motion, moved by Perry and seconded by Tom LaBonge, asks that the funds that would be required for widening be placed in an account while the new rules are figured out. If the new rules still require South Group to pay for widening the streets, then the money's there. If not, though, the money would instead be used for pedestrian and alternative transportation enhancements.

I think this idea is great. The developers are still on the hook (well, except in this case it's CRA money), so it can't be said that new rules would give them unfair benefits. And yet the pedestrian character of the neighborhood is not only kept, but enhanced. Very cool.