Flyaway’s Neighbors Man Yuletide Barricades

It’s a Christmas tradition that Scrooge would endorse.

In a quiet Van Nuys neighborhood, they prepare for the holiday season by putting out barricades, sawhorses, pylons and no-parking signs.

There’s not a lot of holiday warmth in the 7500 block of Collett and Gaviota avenues, in the shadow of the Flyaway Bus Terminal parking lot.

Since the lot opened more than a decade ago, those streets have served as an unofficial overflow area for the 1,500-space lot, where travelers park and catch buses bound for Los Angeles International Airport.

“There was one Christmas I couldn’t park near my house for 2 weeks,” Michael Jaymen grumbled. “And it gets worse every year.”

By midday Friday, about a dozen houses had the “unwelcome” mat out.

Blocking motorists from parking were construction barricades, logs, sawhorses, orange cones and a sign that read, “No Fly Away Parking.”

On the north side of Saticoy Street, the huge Flyaway lot bulged ominously with cars. A sign at the entrance on Woodley Avenue warned motorists that only the short-term lot had space available.

Many went into the 30-minute lot and waited for someone to leave the long-term lot, said Rita Weinstein, who manages the Flyaway service for the Los Angeles Department of Airports.

“We let them in on a one-out, one-in basis,” she said. Weinstein said the lot has not expanded in recent years although demand has risen sharply, but that 100 spots will be added within a year.

On Collett Avenue, which has a largely working-class population, residents interviewed Friday could not point to any unfamiliar cars on the street.

But Lyn Silverman--the parking lane in front of her house barricaded--gazed across Saticoy and predicted: “They’ll be coming here soon.”

Bob Laing, a 20-year-resident of the neighborhood, said he used to get “mighty irate about being parked out of my own street.”

“But I finally decided you just got to learn to play the game,” he said. “That’s why I block off in front of my house.”

He and others reported that few motorists push the barricades aside and park. Generally, they drive a block farther away and park.

Along with the majority of residents, Laing has opposed efforts to create a preferential parking district in the neighborhood, under which only residents’ cars would be allowed to park on the streets.

“That’s a pain in the butt all year long, and the problem is only short-term,” he said. He cited a $15-per-car fee for residents and the inconvenience of getting temporary stickers for visitors’ cars.

Weinstein said that while the biggest parking crunch comes at Christmas, the lot also fills up at Thanksgiving, Labor Day, the Fourth of July, Memorial Day and several other summer weekends.

But on the street, residents were unanimous--Christmas parkers are a different breed.

“They come in the middle of the night and then their cars are there for 2 weeks,” Laing said. “The rest of the year, it’s usually just for a day or two.”

Residents acknowledged that they have no legal right to block off parking on the street.

“I realize that everyone has a right to park here,” said 14-year-old Veronica Sosa, who put out the “No Fly Away Parking” sign.

“We’re just asking people to leave us a place to park at Christmastime.”