Proposed Park Would Remove Red Car Line
Neighborhood Councils Strongly Oppose
The Housing Authority for the City of Los Angeles released proposed plans for the complete redevelopment of the Rancho San Pedro public housing, called One San Pedro. The plan calls for one-on-one replacement of the original 425 units and then adds an additional 975 units. This was expected.
What was unexpected was the proposal for a new playground on Port of Los Angeles property along Harbor Boulevard between 2nd and 3rd streets. The playground would eliminate the right of way of the rail on Harbor Boulevard, said Frank Anderson, chair of the Port Relations Committee of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council at its Jan. 19 meeting.
The council voted 9-1 with one abstention at that same meeting to oppose the development of the park. Eugenia Bulanova was the only member who did not vote to oppose the park, and Board President Carrie Scoville abstained.
Planning for Rancho’s redevelopment has been ongoing for more than four years, but it was only in the past few months that anyone outside of port knew this was on the table.
The Battleship USS IOWA Museum also proposed a park nearby within a thousand feet of this proposed HACLA park also on land owned by the port. The two projects are unrelated and neither proponent had heard of the other’s proposal until recently at a joint land use committee.
“There’s a number of problems with this development, besides the fact that it was developed in a completely opaque way,” Anderson said. “They propose spending two plus million dollars to do it.”
Anderson argued that the most serious effect of the park would be the way it would tear out the tracks for the Red Car line, which could be reestablished in the future otherwise. In addition, any Metro lines or Metro system would need this right of way.
The Waterfront Red Car line was an attraction that ran in San Pedro from 2003 to 2015, using part of a defunct commercial rail line that has been in existence for over 100 years. However, there were plans to expand the line to serve as more practical public transit going into other parts of Los Angeles. The track was shut down for construction in 2015, and has yet to reopen.
“I can’t understand why they would really tear out the tracks,” Anderson said. “It seems like a short-sighted thing, just to have a small play area for children.”
Anderson said this would mean children would be playing along a heavily travelled street, while minimum barriers have been proposed.
“I have a 5-year-old and a 1-year-old, and between Bandini Park, Peck Park and Reina Park … it just doesn’t make sense to me to put a park down there at Harbor Boulevard,” said Matthew Quiocho, member of the CSPNC. “I don’t see myself ever taking my kids down that way, given the other options that are currently available.”
Board member Linda Alexander wondered if the port wants to build the park for the principal purpose of destroying the rail’s track.
“I can’t imagine how you’re going to get across, how a kid, say an 8-year-old kid, wants to go play in the park, is going to go across Harbor Blvd., particularly as the development increases and there’ll be so much more traffic,” Alexander said. “It’s a very poorly placed idea.”
The Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council also opposed the development of the park, for similar reasons. They did so unanimously on
Feb. 8. This was not the first time members of the council tried to interfere, as Board President Ray Regalado sent a letter to Gene Seroka asking him to reconsider eliminating the right of way in October 2020. Regalado has not received a response from the port.
Regalado said he doesn’t see why the port would have any reason to not bring the Red Car line back, but that it might not fit their plans, including the development of the West Harbor project.
Regalado said the park could be beneficial to residents of Rancho San Pedro, especially since it would bring more greenspace. However, he wondered if it is in the most safe and accessible place, and if there are better options. He said it was very necessary for the developers to listen to community input.
The necessary approvals for the park and other development at Rancho San Pedro have already been approved, said Alison Becker, CAC chairwoman for Council District 15 at the Feb. 3 meeting of the Rancho San Pedro Community Advisory Committee meeting. In addition, the team working on the project had already spoken with local stakeholders.
“We certainly understand the longstanding interest and concerns that Red Car advocates have about the right of way,” Becker said. “What we have heard is that, both from local folks and also from transportation experts, is that the future of mobility is flexible and not fixed.”
Becker said that as construction continues in San Pedro, multiple modes of transportation will be considered.
Anderson said that if the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council had known about the project earlier, they would have asked representatives from the project to speak to the council.
“It was my understanding that they had started working on it in October of last year,” Anderson said. “I don’t know if that’s true or not, but the plans seemed to be very well developed for something just coming up.
“It directly affects the central tenet of the Public Access Investment Plan, which is connectivity with the downtown to the port,” Anderson said. “Once you abandon the rail right of way, it’s going to be very difficult to get it back.”
Anderson argued that removing it could prevent future transit opportunities that might be needed — especially when you factor in the West Harbor Development project, which is intended to attract a lot of people.
“Those people have to have ways to get there, not just traffic, not just cars,” Anderson said.
When the Red Car was active, it attracted both tourists and locals, and was hard to get onto on weekends because it was very crowded.
“I don’t know why the port would want to preclude that development,” Anderson said. “I just can’t see it, unless they’re thinking of [Port] economics, but their economics have really improved.”