Deadline to Appeal Trip Fees Is Thursday

Thursday is the final day for about 120 Ventura Boulevard merchants to appeal some $11 million in fees assessed against them to pay for street and other improvements.

The fees are provided for under a 20-year master plan to tame unruly growth, ease traffic and enhance the historic 17-mile boulevard.

The deadline applies to merchants who were awarded building permits between 1985 and 1991 in exchange for a promise to abide by the then-unfinished Ventura Boulevard Specific Plan and who now wish to appeal the so-called trip fees levied against them.

Trip fees, a key source of funding for the $222-million plan, are assessed based on an estimate of the number of automobile trips that a business could be expected to generate.

Los Angeles transportation officials said Tuesday that they had so far received only 11 appeals, and noted that merchants who miss the deadline automatically forfeit their right to appeal.

The appeals process, which costs $1,000, was approved by the Los Angeles City Council in April.