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
These goals were accomplished, and the full document describes the process by which this was done and the results of that process, the Urban Greening Opportunities (Section 4). The Plan is divided into four (4) Sections with seven (7) Appendices.
Section 1—Introduction - describes the background, goals, and objectives for the plan (See Above)
Section 2— Community Outreach - describes the community-based planning process and includes results from the public opinion survey and the needs assessment.
Section 3—Design Workshops - describes in more detail the process and results of those workshops.
Section 4—Pathways & Outlets Opportunities - identifies, maps, and characterizes the 32 “Opportunities” and gives implementation recommendations.
The Appendices provide resource references and additional implementation recommendations to support development of the opportunities.
SECTION 2: COMMUNITY BASED PLANNING PROCESS
This process mobilized an extensive list of local stakeholders to participate in the planning, design, and opportunities selection during the many UGAC meetings, design workshops, a public opinion survey, and other local stakeholder meetings. They included: Council Office District 15; local neighborhood councils—Northwest, Central, Coastal; Chamber of Commerce; Port of LA (POLA); San Pedro Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District (PBID); Harbor Community Benefit Foundation (HCBF); local park advisory boards (PABs); local high schools; local community garden interests; and other local community activists. The process involved extensive information gathering from the various government agencies related to guidelines, standards, best management practices, and their respective permitting processes for implementation of the green enhancements proposed in this plan. Finally, the process involved review and analysis of the local existing conditions. The Needs Assessment sub-section summarizes the approach and the results of the needs assessment that culminated with the Green Street Typologies Matrix.
SECTION 3: DESIGN WORKSHOPS PROCESS
There were three (3) Design Workshops. Each workshop had a defined set of goals and methodology. Each one also utilized information gathered during other phases of the overall community-based planning process, including the public opinion survey and the needs assessment. The first workshop was a brainstorming exercise designed to introduce participants to the process, define what is meant by green pathways/green streets and outlets/nodes, further document existing conditions and identify community expectations for green enhancements. The second workshop presented drafts of green pathways and outlets, green street typology maps (See Needs Assessment Results), and conceptual drawings for select downtown green street typologies. Participants were tasked to comment on each of these represen- tations. During the third workshop participants were asked to comment on the revised regional and downtown plans and individual green street typologies and to provide suggestions for specific project opportunities.
SECTION 4: GREEN PATHWAY & OUTLET OPPORTUNITIES
This section is the culmination of the entire community-based planning effort. It describes each of 32 Green Pathway & Outlet Opportunities that were identified during this process. This section provides the “Road Map” for urban greening development for the San Pedro Community. The beginning of the Section contains a series of "Road Map Matrices" that list the Opportunities in the order in which they are presented in the Plan. For each listing there is a summary of the key implementation requirements. This is followed by a series of Key Maps showing the location of the Opportunities within San Pedro. Each Opportunity sub-section then contains a conceptual description of the proposed project with implementation recommendations. Please note that successful fund raising will require additional site-specific planning, design, and sometimes engineering, before the improvements will either qualify for funding and/or be “shovel-ready” for construction.
Each of the 32 Opportunities is characterized as either a “pathway” or “outlet” or both. Pathways represent existing streets that can be transformed into “Green Streets”. There are also dedicated off-street path- ways, such as hiking trails or alleys that are dedicated to pedestrian use. Green Streets are much more than streets with trees planted on them. They are streets that are transformed to become more pedestrian and environmentally friendly. Such streets have “active transportation encouraging facilities and enhancements” (bicycle lanes, traffic calming measures, and bus stops), pedestrian lighting, landscape bulb-outs and outdoor dining platforms, and storm water capture enhancements (bioswales or rain gardens). Outlets represent “areas” of environmental enhancement—typically parks of various scales (regional, community, neighborhood, or pocket parks), other unimproved but dedicated open space areas, and community gardens.
The order in which the Opportunities are presented is based on funding and development status. The first 10 Opportunities are projects that have been funded (or partially funded, e.g., Opportunity #10 – Gaffey Great Street) and are in some stage of development as of December 31, 2017. Some of the funding consists of existing City of Los Angeles funded programs (Opportunities #8, 9). Some of the funding was in place prior to the beginning of this planning effort (Opportunities #5, 6, and 7). Some of the opportunities were funded while the Plan was being developed (Opportunities #1, 3, 4).
One of them, Opportunity #3— Western Ave. Median Tree Planting (CD 15 funded), has already been completed. A second, Opportunity #1—Urban Forest Ecosystem Restoration (CalFire grant funding), is well underway. Some of these represent efforts that had begun before the first UGAC Meeting had been convened—Opportunity #5—Sampson Way Realignment (POLA funded), Opportunity #6—North Gaffey Parkway Phase II (Neighborhood Council project funded by POLA), and Opportunity #7—Front Street Beautification (POLA funded). Some involve the utilization of existing City of Los Angeles environmental enhancement programs— Adoption Program (LADWP funded City Plants Program), Opportunity #9— Residential Turf Replacement (LADWP fund- ed). Opportunity #2— Priority Green Streets Tree Planting Strategies—is a somewhat unique “opportunity”. It is listed as #2 because the tree planting “strategies” it describes transcends any other more site-specific opportunity and should govern tree species selection for any project.