The ongoing battle between tenants and their landlord over parking spots in Koreatown has reached a fever pitch when the property owner towed the cars parked in the spots, which are being turned into accessory dwelling units or ADUs.
Tenants, including Lauren Seely, at the apartment building on 5th Street and Kingsley Drive, said Monday that they woke up and learned their cars were removed from their parking spots in the middle of the night.
“I woke up to a message from my neighbor, saying they’ve got tow trucks here, they are towing cars,” Seely said. “This is a huge blow. I have no idea what I’m going to do now.”
The landlord and property management company confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that they indeed moved the cars that were in the way of the ADU conversions.
Last August, NBCLA was first to report that the building owner and property management planned to convert tenant parking into ADUs.
Although Joel Rodstein with North Oak Property Management said the property owner and management company are trying to create more affordable housing, the tenants argued a parking space was guaranteed in their lease.
After the tenants appealed in court and lost, Rodstein said the city gave the property company the green light to start the ADU project.
Seely said the towing of the cars was premature as the tenant group was planning to challenge the ruling.
“We lost our appeal, but we can take it to the state Supreme Court. We filed for a petition for a judicial review of that decision, and we have that court date coming up on Jan. 30,” said Seely.
The tenants said they had asked the landlord to pause the work until the state Supreme Court decision.
“I’m feeling kind of despondent and a bit hopeless,” said Mel Raymond, another tenant.
Now the renters will have to look for somewhere else to park in Koreatown, one of the most dense LA neighborhoods notorious for the lack of street parking.
And some women said they fear for their safety when walking around alone at night after parking far away from the building.
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