The Port of Los Angeles is putting together a planning document, and many San Pedro residents want to make sure community input is taken seriously.
On July 14, Michael Cham, property manager at the port, gave a presentation on the San Pedro Waterfront Connectivity Plan at the joint Planning and Land Use committee of all three San Pedro neighborhood councils.
The plan will build upon existing public access and private development objectives and guide the future of the waterfront. In addition, it will lay out how each project will be connected to the others using bikes, scooters, pedestrian walkways, sidewalks and crosswalks, as well as public transport, and potentially a rubber tire trolley. It will also include travel on water, such as water taxis.
“It’s going to be periodically updated as things change, as new things come on board,” Cham said.
The plan does not necessarily bind the port to any future actions. While the port will put its actual plans in the plan itself, it is free to change them at any time. The port estimates the plan will take about a year to create.
The port is doing this now because of coming private developments, and to include and consider projects and buildings that were different in 2009, when the port released the San Pedro waterfront environmental impact report. These include progress at West Harbor and AltaSea.
“This connectivity plan is important to do now because it provides … a significant messaging and marketing opportunity,” Cham said.
The port will send out a request for proposal, or RFP, for a consulting company to help. The port estimates this will cost $250,000 to $500,000.
“This is an effort that the port is in the initial stages of,” Cham said. “This is an invitation to the neighborhood councils, as well as other stakeholders to participate in the process with us.”
San Pedro resident Pat Nave suggested the port select people from the neighborhood councils and the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce for a working group to advise the port on the project.
“There have been events where the port has gone forward on its own without really any attempt to really work with the community,” Pat Nave said. “And it’s been disastrous. This is too important for that to happen again.”
Cham said that the port is reluctant to choose people for a working group but encouraged the neighborhood councils to choose their own people for it.
Diana Nave, chair of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council’s planning and land use committee, said that tenants near the waterfront should be part of the working group.
“I think the working group probably should be set up sooner rather than later,” Diana Nave said. “As you’re developing, finalizing the RFP, that group ought to be involved.”
Doug Epperhart, president of Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council, said the scope of this project is important.
“The port tends to think that the waterfront ends at ports o’ call,” Epperhart said. “As we all know, it doesn’t. Cabrillo Marina, possible new cruise ship terminal … Cabrillo Beach, the aquarium. These are things that draw tens of thousands of people, particularly on weekends.”
Epperhart said he wants the plan to consider these parts of the waterfront, as well as how it will impact nearby residential areas, including 22nd Street and Pacific Avenue.
“Anybody there can tell you about the amount of traffic that moves there,” Epperhart said.
San Pedro resident Jason Herring asked if the presence of the rubber tire trolley would eliminate the possibility of bringing in a rail-based street car, as a modern version of the Red Car. Not necessarily, said Cham.
“I put in a rubber tire trolley because that’s what we use right now,” Cham said. “And of course, I am not going to predetermine anything that’s within the plan ultimately as it comes out, because we don’t have a consultant on board, we haven’t done our outreach yet.”
Frank Anderson, former board member of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council, was also concerned about using a rail-based system. He cited new developments and improvements to San Pedro, and how they could bring a lot more people, including a revamped cruise line, the upcoming West Harbor Project.
“We really have to focus on a transit or connectivity plan to get these people in and out,” Anderson said.
Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council board member Gwen Henry said she liked the plan but criticized its lack of attention to preserving the natural habitat of indigenous species.
“This plan is sorely lacking in bringing back rainbirds, creating sample wetlands, marshlands and interfaces between the freshwater and marine water,” Henry said. “This is an incredible opportunity to bring schools out to see marine creatures and birds in their own habitat and create those places within those connectivity areas.”
She compared it to the Aquarium of the Pacific, which is very industrialized with ships and private marinas, but you can still see local wildlife.
“You can see a blue herring hunting on the rocks over there,” Henry said. “I don’t see any of this incorporated [in the connectivity plan].”