Residents on the 1500 block of Franklin were granted a 24- hour ban that exempts spaces in front of Nessah. Residents on the 1500 block of Franklin circulated a petition and gathered signatures from approximately two-thirds of the block's households. Other blocks, including the 1400 block of Franklin and blocks on Colorado and Broadway, near the temple, can also request 24-hour restrictions once they have gathered the required signatures. While the measure passed, some council members questioned if the outright ban was too restrictive. Earlier this year the council passed a similar measure for 24th and 23rd Streets, near Wilshire, which have left the streets a virtual ghost town during the day.
Nearby businesses say they are suffering because their patrons have no place to park.
Councilman Mike Feinstein , who cast a dissenting vote, said after the meeting that he thought the council's decisions on both preferential parking zones where wrong. I think the broader point is what kind of message do we send to our staff when we ask them to go and study a neighborhood, take down data and make recommendations when we hear a dozen residents and do whatever they want us to do. Mayor Pro Tem Ken Genser, who voted for the tougher restrictions said the two cases are different. They have an acute problem of a really insensitive neighbor. Outside of Council Chambers Sheilds and her neighbors laughed, hugged and vowed to gather signatures.