In the latest salvo of an increasingly personal battle over parking, a Farragut Drive homeowner has lodged a public nuisance complaint against Grace Lutheran Evangelical Church with the Culver City city attorney’s office.
In a letter to City Attorney Carol Schwab, Paulette Greenberg claims that congregants from the church “fill every parking place on Farragut” during its Sunday services. Greenberg refers to an exchange that Ken Smith, a member of Grace Lutheran’s board of directors, had at a Sept. 8 city council meeting with Councilman Jeffery Cooper regarding where some of the church’s congregants park.
“The church’s conduct causes interference with the Farragut residents’ comfortable enjoyment of life or property and is detrimental to Farragut property values and community appearance,” Greenberg wrote. “I have tried to meet with Smith to ameliorate the situation, but the church refuses to consider providing off-site parking to its attendees and is obsessed with using Farragut,” Greenberg continued.
Under California law, California Code 3480, a public nuisance is defined as a nuisance which affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood, or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal.
Grace Lutheran asked the council over two weeks ago to reconsider lifting the preferential parking restrictions at 10700 Farragut Drive, which Farragut homeowners have had since 1982. Only vehicles with a preferential parking permit may park on the block. Grace Lutheran has limited parking and is seeking to have to council revisit the parking restrictions so that some of its congregants can use the nearby residential street.
The council decided to seek more information about whether an analysis of traffic patterns is needed for the area and will not make a decision on the status of the preferential parking zone until next year.
The animosity between the church and Greenberg and her husband Les has intensified over the last several years and was underscored by Les Greenberg’s claim earlier this month that that Councilmen Andrew Weissman and Cooper as well as Vice Mayor Michaél O Leary should have recused themselves or not heard the agenda item concerning parking on Farragut. Alleging a variety of conflicts of interest, Les Greenberg asked Schwab to investigate what he says are ethical breaches by Weissman, Cooper and O’Leary.
Les Greenberg noted that in order to conduct an analysis of the traffic on Farragut and its surrounding streets, including Overland Avenue where Grace Lutheran is located, the parking restrictions would have to be lifted. “The minute that they take [preferential parking] away for any reason [the City Council] is in violation of the law,” Greenberg, an attorney, asserted.
Ilbert Phillips, an attorney for the church, scoffed at the conflict of interest allegations and the latest claim of public nuisance. “Legal conduct cannot be deemed a nuisance,” said Phillips, referring to a person parking on a public residential street. “The fact that a homeowner is occupying a space that they do not own does not mean that others may not park there.”
Councilman Jim Clarke, who Les Greenberg did not accuse of being conflicted, said he disagrees that any of his colleagues have acted unethically regarding the parking matter but feels Grace Lutheran could take action themselves to rectify the problems with the Farragut homeowners. “It’s incumbent upon the church to do a good faith effort to seek offsite parking,” he said.
Phillips said laws against public nuisances are valid but Greenberg’s claim against the church was not. “I don’t understand this complaint,” he said. “It is a legal concept that is being misapplied here.”