Bridge to Breakwater on Hold until 2007?
I'm about to skip town for the weekend, but this article in today's Breeze was too interesting not to throw up on the wall here. Apparently community concerns regarding the 22nd street parcel have stalled much of the near-term LA Waterfront development, forcing a lengthier review process on all of the upcoming construction, including the 6th Street Plaza and a variety of lighting and pocket park improvements. According to the article the threat of a lawsuit by parties unnamed in the article pushed the Port into a lengthier review process.
There's a ton of community reactions in the article, from business folks, Neighborhood Council folks, activist folks, POLA folks and Councilwoman Janice Hahn, and it's worth reading.
The article is filled with interesting quotes and perspectives but here's the one thing I wanted to note:
There's a ton of community reactions in the article, from business folks, Neighborhood Council folks, activist folks, POLA folks and Councilwoman Janice Hahn, and it's worth reading.
The article is filled with interesting quotes and perspectives but here's the one thing I wanted to note:
Work is still moving ahead, (Stacey) Jones said, to construct a large choreographed fountain at Swinford Street and Harbor Boulevard, a project that already received approval under the first section of the promenade project. It is slated for completion in early 2007.
I guess the fountain is technically part of a different project, and was approved in a seperate process, one that took place earlier before the spotlight was on every detail of B2B. The funny thing about the fountain to me is its placement. I used to live, in poorer days, in San Pedro's own Samoan Seas apartments, directly across from the fountian. If any two elements could more represent the coming clash between the moneyed folks that would like to mold San Pedro into their fantasy of "waterfornt living" and the reality of San Pedro's working class population, it's the fountain and that reality.
12 Comments:
I was surprised to see that article this morning. The changes that have been going on are not bad, it's the coming superbuilding attack that has me more worried. So it's disheartening to see all that stop, while you know the developers aren't going to stop for anything. So the net result is more buildings, less paths/trees/greenery. Nice! Perfect Pedro ending to this story.
I know it's not over, but I couldn't pass up that line.
Too bad there was so much infighting by the community, and now the momentum will be lost on these projects. In the future, the harbor department will be forced to use its extra monies to improve security and invest in pollution reducting technologies, and therefore the Port won't be able to invest in the bridge to breakwater, whether it's touristy or a bunch of parks. It will be left up to the private sector to fund the project, and as we know, they want mostly to sell expensive condos, and further stresss the infrastructure without really adding to the quality of life.
I This town is going to hell.
Too bad.
Look on the bright side. At least now some of the more profoundly stupid near-horizon elements of the plan--like the "town plaza" that bypasses downtown--are on hold, perhaps permanently (well, one can hope).
I can wait for the "pocket park improvements." If the whole thing runs out of steam and has to be started again from square one, so much the better. This thing is such a disaster the way that it's currently configured that it's far better to wait for a whole new project than to try to fix this one. Maybe we can do it without the likes of Gafcon next time.
The "but we must do something! quickly!" outlook held even by the project's critics strikes me as really mindless...oh, too mean? OK, let's just say it's heedless. "So what if he's ugly, mean, sick, and a raging drunk? If I say no, nobody will ever want to marry me again. I'm not getting any younger. Nobody else wants me. I don't deserve any better."
Is B2B really going to run out of steam? I read that the 2006 projects were simply rolled into the environmental review underway to be released in 2007. Maybe I'm just too unassuming, but I had decided to take the announcement at face value and wait for the EIR results.
"In the future, the harbor department will be forced to use its extra monies to improve security and invest in pollution reducing technologies, and therefore the Port won't be able to invest in the bridge to breakwater..."
How can that happen to money that was budgeted for B2B? Does anyone know the process that would cause the money to be reallocated? I guess my main question about this is - how much is this talk of the project losing steam just speculative?
"In the future, the harbor department will be forced to use its extra monies to improve security and invest in pollution reducing technologies, and therefore the Port won't be able to invest in the bridge to breakwater..."
This is per the State Tidelands folks - they don't consider parks and beautification projects part of the Port's regional mission - NO MATTER WHAT THE COMMUNITY THINKS - but security and environmental initiatives are.
Budget $$$ for B2B will continue to be discussed, but don't hold your breath... it's all speculative at this point!!!
So, now how do we stop that Tropicana del Pedro fountain from being built? Seriously, is there any way to put a stop to it or at least get them to tone it down? I know it's already been approved, but nobody was paying attention at the time.
Welcome back Pedrochix, by the way. I was thinking about taking over your name, but I guess I'll have to think one up for myself now.
The walkway and cruise terminal areas aren't bad, but I'm glad the rest of the project is on hold. The plan to widen Harbor Blvd was preposterous. Too many consultants like EEK trying to impose their "vision" on us little San Pedro peasants.
In the future, the harbor department will be forced to use its extra monies to improve security and invest in pollution reducting technologies, and therefore the Port won't be able to invest in the bridge to breakwater, whether it's touristy or a bunch of parks
I don't know about that, I see no reason why the Port can't invest in this project while still going about the business of improving security (why again?) and reducing pollution at the Port.
How can that happen to money that was budgeted for B2B? Does anyone know the process that would cause the money to be reallocated? I guess my main question about this is - how much is this talk of the project losing steam just speculative?
I think that the above perspective is itself speculative. I don't know about the project losing steam, but the downtown business community is extremely concerned that the outside investment that is currently coming into downtown could dry up if B2B slows to a crawl.
I think we're stuck with the fountain, but at least I'll have a use for all of that Red #5 dye that I've been saving for a special occasion...
All I know is, if the fountain gets built, screw my DWP bill. I'll be across from the Samoan Seas with my loofah and shower cap singing Swanee River.
As an aside, did you know that 70% of all males sing in the shower? The other 30% masturbate. Do you know what they sing? Ha! I didn't think so, you perverts.
BTW, yes I am a female, but the handle doesn't refer to my gender. I raise young, orphaned birds. So now you know that little factoid about me. Guess the name does make me sound like I'm the local cheerleading squad or girl gang or something.
Does this latest development not smell like a ploy by the POLA staff to discredit the opposition? "See what those spoilsport environmentalists did? Because of them, now you won't get any improvements to the waterfront at all!"
A really obvious, hamfisted ploy, yes. But then, so was the sudden introduction of the Maximum Development Plan in order to make the Preferred Plan look like a compromise. That's their style, you see. Obvious, hamfisted--c'est le Port!
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