San Pedro Urban Greening Implementation Plan

This San Pedro Urban Greening Implementation Plan is the culmination of a multi-year community-based planning effort that began in the Spring of 2013 with the creation of the San Pedro Urban Greening Advisory Committee (UGAC) and was completed with the publication of this Plan in December 2017, and is now available for download here by clicking on the image to the right.

For a more compartmentalized review of the project please follow this link www.agreensanpedro.com At that site the individual parts and “opportunities” can be seen. This includes the 32 separate "Opportunities" identified for development within the plan.

CONTENT:

Funded with a grant from the State of California Resources Agency to the Los Angeles Conservation Corps at the behest of local stakeholders, the original goal as stated within that grant proposal was:

“…. the identification of synergistic downtown green space linkages that run from the waterfront connection points, through downtown community sites, and to upland park area connection points. The resultant San Pedro ‘waterfront to hills’ green space planning effort would truly bind the San Pedro community to its vital and distinctive San Pedro natural and historical legacy”.

This original goal was expanded by the UGAC to include three (3) other goals:

That the Plan be created through a robust community-based planning process.
That the planning process identify and map green pathway and outlet opportunities that accomplish Goal #1; and
That the final plan characterizes these opportunities and provide direction for their implementation

OROS Green Street

As Executive Director of North East Trees (NET)/Green Way, Mr. Smith directed the landmark Oros Green Street Project design-build development and construction from 2006-2007. Mr. Smith brought together a team comprised of NET design and outreach staff, Los Angeles City Bureau of Street Services engineers and architects, private engineering consultants, and other City agency representatives, and created a stream-lined design-development process. The Project was thereby completed in two (2) years from the earliest planning stage through its dedication in July 2007.

The purpose of this first of its kind Smart Green Infrastructure project was to demonstrate that best management practices (BMPs) based on biological treatment and filtration processes can be used to meet water quality objectives when distributed throughout mixed land use neighborhoods in urban settings. By using such practices, municipalities can improve the natural setting of neighborhoods and improve habitat quality while also reducing polluted stormwater runoff (See Figure Above). As a result, this provides a valuable multi-benefit solution to complement the more traditional technology-based, end-of-pipe treatment solutions typically employed to address water quality impairments.

Heritage Point Park Project

Heritage Point Park, located in the City of Signal Hill, CA, was opened to the public on July 8, 2022. The project is in the City of Signal Hill at 1900 E. Burnett Ave. The park property is co-owned by the City of Signal Hill and Signal Hill Petroleum, which operates active oil wells on their portion of the property. The General Contractor was the Conservation Corps of Long Beach (CCLB), and Atlas Green Works (AGW) acted as their Project and Construction Manager Consultant. Mr. Larry Smith performed both functions.

The Park is part of the City's trails master plan and connects the community south of the park to Hilltop Park. Park development on the City property included a drainage system designed to infiltrate precipitation that lands on the site through a series of bioretention basins that capture runoff through underground drains, adjacent walkways, and driveway. Excess water during major storms that leaves the site flows through a parkway drain and into a dry well. Any sediment that makes it through the parkway drain is captured in the primary chamber of the storm drain, which is cleaned out regularly.

Other elements in the park include natural stone retaining walls that line the meandering concrete walkway/trail lined with light bollards, and associated rest areas that include basaltic stone benches and interpretive signage. A monument sign announces the park/trail location at the corner of E. Burnett St. and Cherry Ave.

Wrigley Greenbelt Construction

Atlas Green Works Principal Consultant Larry Smith was the Project & Construction Manager for the recently completed 1-mile-long Wrigley Greenbelt Project. The greenbelt runs along the eastern base of the Los Angeles River levee through a residential community along De Forest Ave. in Long Beach. The project facilities include a 1-mile pedestrian decomposed granite trail from 34th St. down to 26th St. where pedestrians will be able to connect to the existing Los Angeles River pedestrian and bicycle trail along the top of the east levee.

Other improvements include the planting of 15,000 1-gal. native plants, another 117 trees, pedestrian rest areas with picnic tables and other benches along the 1-mile trail, and equestrian rest areas.

COMPTON CREEK NATURAL PARK PHASE I:

As a consultant to the LA Conservation Corps, Mr. Smith was the Project Manager responsible for completing this $3.5 million project on behalf of the LA Conservation Corps from 2012-2013. The project was a collaboration between the Mountains and Rivers Conservation Authority (MRCA), Compton Unified School District, and Los Angeles Conservation Corps (LACC). Construction of the 3.5-acre park was primarily done by LACC at-risk youth (Corpsmembers) under supervision of journeyman level Technical Supervisors. Project facilities constructed/installed included:

Grading of 3.5 acres of property
Construction of 34,000 square feet of drainage swales
Installation of 127,000-gallon underground Cistern system
Installation of over 100,000 linear feet of irrigation
Installation of a potable drinking water distribution system
Planting of 126 (36” and 48”) box trees
Planted nearly 10,000 native plants
Construction of 800 linear feet of decomposed granite paths
Construction of approx. 6,000 sq. ft. decomposed granite parking lot
Construction of a 200-seat capacity concrete outdoor amphitheater
Installation of 4 outdoor exercise stations

LAUREL CANYON BLVD. GREEN STREET PROJECT:

As Project Manager on behalf of the LA Conservation Corps (LA Corps) for this nearly $4M project, Mr. Smith managed the project from pre-construction through construction completion from September 2014 - June 2017. LA Corps signed an agreement (Memo of Understanding - MOU) with Los Angeles City Bureau of Sanitation (LA SAN) for $2M to complete design development from 30% construction documents (CDs) to 100% CDs. Among other reasons that LA SAN entered this MOU with LA Corps, was the opportunity to employ/train at-risk young adults (Corpsmembers) on a major public works construction project.

Corpsmember crews under the supervision of journeyman and foremen level Technical Supervisors did nearly all of the demolition, grading, utility relocation, and masonry work, as well as all of the landscape and irrigation scope of work.

The scope included the construction of a ¼ mile of engineered vegetated bioretention basins & 8 dual chamber dry wells along Laurel Canyon Blvd. that would collect stormwater runoff from a 120-acre sub-watershed area. Other scope included a separate series of dry wells at the southwest corner of Pacoima Middle School that would collect stormwater from the 40-acre school property. Other constructed facilities included 1200 LF of new curb & gutter, 5,000 SF of new concrete sidewalk, and 50,000 SF of new street AC paving. CWE provided the engineering and design while Mr. Smith assisted with value engineering to create a more streamlined configuration of bioretention basins along Laurel Canyon Blvd. Design through 100% CDs was largely completed by December 2015.

HONOLULU URBAN FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN:

As Principal of L. E. Smith Consulting at the time, Mr. Smith completed this project in 2003 and produced a Street Tree Management Plan for the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii. The contents of this Plan include the following:

Volume I: Analysis of the Existing Conditions— Urban Setting, Physiographic Conditions, Existing Street Tree Population (based on actual inventory data), Existing Policies, Regulations, Guidelines & Administration [Pertaining to the Urban Forest]
Volume II – Street Tree Management Plan Recommendations
- Long Term Goals & Objectives
- Tree Protection Program
- Tree Removal & Replacement Program
- Street Tree Planting Program
- Street Tree Maintenance Plan
- Street Tree Five-Year Work Plan
Volume III – Appendices – contains all the source material used to prepare this Plan and includes the street tree data, council district maps showing the data and locations of trees by species (includes vacant sites), national and local standards and best practices, and references.

CALIFORNIA TREE ACADEMY:

As a consultant to the LA Conservation Corps from 2010-2012, Mr. Smith developed the "California Tree Academy" curriculum, and delivered the pilot program to the LA Corps and several other California Local Conservation Corps. Funded by CalFire, Mr. Smith was able to: 1) train 72 staff for a total of 2080 training hours; and 2) train 303 corps members for a total of 8576 training hours. In addition, 1031 "after school youth (middle school age)" received 90 minutes each of education using the instruction manual that can be downloaded by clicking on the image to the right.

The full curriculum delivered to corps members consisted of 5 modules. Each was designed for 2-3 hours of classroom education and 4-5 hours of field training. The guiding principle behind the curriculum was educating all participants on the "Right Tree, Right Place, Planted the Right Way" concept of urban forestry and arboriculture. This included a module devoted to "Water Relations" - water conservation principles and techniques and stormwater management. The curriculum concluded with an overview of the wide array of "green industry" career pathways available for those interested in transitioning into more advanced education and training opportunities.

PDFs of the PowerPoints used during the instruction/training are available upon request.

LONG BEACH URBAN FOREST & SIDEWALK/ CURB & GUTTER INVENTORY & ANALYSIS:

While Western Region Municipal Market Manager for Davey Resource Group, Mr. Smith developed and directed this Project, the purpose of which was to inventory all the sidewalk and curb and gutter damage along the public streets of the city of Long Beach, California so that budget dollars could be more precisely directed to those council districts that had the higher percentage of damage along its streets. Towards this end a total of 133,000 asset locations were inventoried. This included 83,000 tree sites, 24,000 address locations with no trees and no hardscape damage and 28,000 hardscape damage sites not associated with tree sites.

Of the 83,000 tree sites, roughly 52% or 43,000 of these also had associated hardscape damage. Of the total sites at which hardscape damage was found, 62% of them were tree sites. However, of the $30 million total cost of hardscape repair, 73% or $22 million of it was associated with tree sites.

The complete analysis report was used by the City Council to allocate hardscape repair dollars in proportion to each Council District's damage per linear street mile. Additional analysis revealed the extent of hardscape damage associated with particular tree species x size. The fact that this project documented the association between trees and adjacent infrastructure damage really makes the case for the right tree planted in the right place and maintained the right way. This phenomenon exists in every major urban area. As with most problems the solution requires an accurate statement of the problem based on observable and measurable facts.