Getty May Limit Attendance Through Jan. 4

Flooded with holiday traffic, the Getty Center on Monday warned that through Jan. 4 it may turn away those who use public transportation and can only guarantee admittance to visitors with parking reservations.

“We are delighted with the public’s tremendous enthusiasm for seeing the Getty Center in its early weeks, and regret that we may be unable to accommodate everyone this week due to our capacity limitations,” said Harold M. Williams, president of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Monday’s announcement comes after two sometimes chaotic weeks in the streets of Brentwood, where visitors unable to reserve a spot in the Getty’s 1,200-space parking structure have ditched their cars on residential side streets and walked, or taken buses or taxis.

A Getty spokeswoman said visitors should expect long lines and delays, and those without reservations may be denied admittance. And anyone who wants a reservation will have to wait--the parking structure is booked until March on weekdays and until April on weekends, she said.

As crowds emerged as a problem last week, the Los Angeles City Council imposed a temporary limit on parking around the Getty, with an exemption for neighborhood residents and their guests. For the next 30 days, parking around the Getty will be limited to two hours, except for local residents who pick up a parking permit.

The 30-day permits are to be distributed tonight at 7 at the University of Judaism, where officials from the city Department of Transportation and City Councilman Mike Feuer’s office will hold a meeting to discuss traffic and parking problems that have arisen in the neighborhood. To get a parking permit, residents must bring a driver’s license and vehicle registration.

Streets affected by the council decision are Bel Terrace east of Sepulveda Boulevard, Montego Drive north of Casiano Road, Acanto Place west of Montego Drive, Casiano Road between Sepulveda and Montego Drive, the 800 and 900 blocks of Moraga Drive, and Bellagio Road between the 11700 block and Sepulveda.

Council members who were skeptical of the parking plan questioned the Getty’s strategy to deal with crowds.

“The whole point, we were told, of the Getty having no admission charge was that it would be everyone’s museum,” said Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg. “They’ve picked an unfortunate method of dealing with their capacity. The problem should fall equally on all shoulders. This simply says if you’re a bus rider you’ll have to come some other time. Bus riders are very often students, the elderly and the poor. I don’t think that’s fair.”

Since it opened Dec. 16, the Getty has had more than 100,000 visitors, according to preliminary data compiled by the museum. In its first week, it received 47,514 visitors, of whom 23,900 took buses, taxis, bicycles or walked.

But this isn’t the first time the guardians of the Getty collections have underestimated public interest in their treasures. In January 1974, two weeks after the J. Paul Getty Museum opened in Malibu, traffic congestion and parking problems prompted neighborhood residents to sue.

“They put on a huge enormous press campaign,” Goldberg said. “I don’t know why anybody should be surprised they’re having a lot of people.”