Less than four months after Brentwood Village’s north and south parking lots were in danger of becoming an access road for the West Los Angeles Veteran Affairs campus, business owners have won the fight to keep the VA-owned parking lots for Brentwood visitors and workers, so long as Brentwood Village can properly rebrand the lots as veteran-centric.
Brentwood Village’s parking lots flanking the Barrington Post Office were flagged in October to be turned into access roads for the West L.A. VA campus. A groundswell of community backlash and cooperative thought will now see the space retained for public use, the area shifting from the Brentwood Village parking to “Veterans’ Parking” lots.
The Greater Los Angeles VA Campus Draft Master Plan, released Thursday, Jan. 28, revealed an updated VA proposal that identified the Brentwood Village Parking Lot as a neighborhood center with veterans’ employment opportunities and parking. According to the plan, the VA will replace the existing surface parking lot with a parking structure, “the ground floor of which could provide veteran employment opportunities and vocational enterprises, while retaining public access to parking.”
The news was a welcome relief to neighborhood. Brentwood Village Chamber of Commerce (BVCC) member and business owner Jennifer Wenger-Turchen alerted businesses that the parking lots and Brentwood’s use were back in the Master Plan.
“For now, we will are being told that the BVCC will be offered one- to two-year revocable licenses to continue shared use of the veteran’s parking lot, while we await the outcome of legislation,” Wenger-Turchen wrote.
Incorporating veteran and community feedback during the 45-day Preliminary Draft Master Plan Public Comment period from October to December, the new plan is now designed to serve as one-stop-shop for non-homeless veterans. It also calls for construction of 1,200 permanent supportive housing for disabled and traumatized veterans and more than 700 short-term units for homeless veterans.
If legislation passes, the BVCC will have the opportunity to enter into a long-term lease agreement with the VA, which must be approved by the federal agencies, according to Wenger-Turchen. Federal agencies and the VA will monitor the parking lots’ use.
“You will see changes in the operation of the lots as early as March,” she wrote.
Brentwood Village’s veteran-centric plans are all ready under way. The current pilot program includes a food donation program from residents and restaurants, a “veterans first” hiring policy among Brentwood Village merchants, and discounted or free goods and services to veterans under VA care.
Brentwood Village and its Business Improvement District (BID) will need to rebrand the “Brentwood Village Parking Lot” as the “Veterans’ Parking Lot.”
“We are here (in the new [Master Plan]), now, with the potential to continue to use the Veterans’ Parking Lot, for years to come, for three reasons … and no others,” Wenger-Turchen outlined to Brentwood Village business owners.
First, she said she and Brentwood Village BID representative and property owner Marcie Polier Swartz spent countless hours researching, developing, and drafting a comprehensive plan with the help of veteran’s groups, local and federal government bodies, and the VA. They had more 50 meetings with senators, councilmembers, congressmen, representatives from Senate and Congess house committees, the Mayor’s office, and dozens of VA staff, according to the email.
Second, members of the BID hired a strategic planner, Harvey Englander and Jonathan Slade, to guide, advise, and prep them for the necessary meetings to accomplish their goals, she wrote.
Lastly, Wenger-Turchen acknowledged the cooperation of Vince Kane –U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald’s special assistant heading up the local VA effort – Congress, the American Legion, and others.
“No doubt because of our clear and present dedication to Brentwood Village and because of our sincerity in seeking to help reach Secretary McDonald’s goal of revitalizing the WLA VA and make Brentwood Village an extension of the VA campus,” she wrote.
In November 2015, Wenger-Turchen had envisioned a solution to save the parking lots through programs and vocational training that would recreate Brentwood Village as a veteran village.
During that time, Wenger-Turchen said she was trying to save the lifeline of Brentwood Village’s 110 businesses and 500 jobs. She’s now most concerned about the veterans and how to best embrace them into the community.
“It’s not, how can we save parking lot for the businesses, but what can we do for our heroes that are our neighbors?” Wenger-Turchen said.
