STORIES AND PHOTOS BY TOM POLITEO
Co-Chair Harbor Vision Task Force
 

Above, bicyclists enjoy a ride along the California Coastal Trail in San Pedro as it approaches the Los Angeles Waterfront area. Pedestrian and transit links to the waterfront will help encourage people to avoid using cars.

Below, from left, the “Cabrillo Cove” area should be designated as an outdoor recreation area to support a variety of sports, including swimming, sailing and windsurfing.

The Cabrillo Cove Recreation Area The southwest part of San Pedro Bay should provide a first-class, multi-use, outdoors recreational area serving Southern California. Developing good local and regional recreation facilities is important to help relieve visitors from overcrowded national parks and to provide recreation closer to home, saving on the use of gasoline. This area offers a mom’s beach (protected from large waves by a breakwater), a surfing beach (facing open seas), tidepooling, sailing, kayaking, windsurfing, fishing, swimming, picnicking, nature watching, bicycling, skating, camping and education. Industrial uses, including cruise ships, should be kept out of this area. It might be appropriate for large ships to visit this area on special occasions. Cars should be kept to a minimum and much of the area currently devoted to cars should be freed up. To help welcome visitors, Cabrillo Beach could use a permanent place where people can buy food and beach supplies or rent an umbrella—so they don’t have to bring everything by foot or public transit. Sight lines in every direction possible should give as natural, open and timeless appearance as possible, free of visual clutter and pavement. A boat launch located by the beach should be moved to a better location just east of the Cabrillo Marina.

Tidepoolers visit Cabrillo Beach

Education and marine science should play a role in use of our tidelands area. Families enjoy tidepooling below the bluff s next to Cabrillo Beach as part of walks led by the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. San Pedro Bay was once the home to dolphin and California sea otters, nearly 3500 acres of wetlands and one of the world’s most prosperous fishing fleets (which played a leading role in the California economy). Today, dolphin and otters are gone, there are just a few acres of wetlands and the fishing fleet has collapsed. The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, a new visitor-serving marine science center, fi sh breeding grounds, restored habitat and design features in Ports O’Call could help fulfill an educational mission.

Salinas de San Pedro salt marsh should be expanded and made more accessible to the public.

Salinas de San Pedro, a small restored saltwater wetland located north of Cabrillo Beach, should be expanded, and have a nature walk which is easily accessible to the public. Further north, a fresh water marsh area should be expanded, and possibly coupled with a number of additional brackish water marshes. This area could provide multiple uses, including kayaking, bird watching, education, picnicking. A youth camp run by the Boy Scouts just north of Cabrillo Beach should be administered by a public agency and readily available to the general public without a membership requirement. It can provide a camp ground for hikers trekking this section of the California Coastal Trail. It’s limited-use beach provides a haven for sea birds.

The Cabrillo Marina should be expanded to provide space for a public, non-profit group to teach children and adults boating skills from kayaking to sailing. Unfortunately, current plans for brownfields east of the marina will build more parking lots, shops and restaurants. It would be a shame to miss out on a chance to provide water-dependent uses here. This is a good place for kayak and windsurfing rentals and a convenience shop to pick up last minute boating supplies, food and beverages. Los Angeles Harbor also needs more room for visiting ships, whether personal sailing ships, tall ships or historic military ships on exhibit.

Trail and transit elements

The California Coastal Trail winds through the waterfront on its way around San Pedro Bay. At least one continuous bicycle and one pedestrian route should be completed for this White House-recognized trail. It should also provide a path for skaters. Ample local pedestrian and bicycle trail links are one of the design objectives for the Costal Trail. These can connect the waterfront to the local downtown, neighborhoods and parks. Just north of the waterfront, a new park on Knoll Hill can provide an overlook for the Coastal Trail and vistas of the industrial port. As the trail snakes its way south along the coast (by going north to Wilmington), one track can cross over green-roofed parking structures which could built into bluff s along side of the Harbor Freeway.

Coastal Trail hikers need regularly available camping sites at the Boy’s Scout Camp.

Developing pedestrian, bicycle and skater friendly areas requires putting people ahead of cars in every aspect of design. Many aspects of current waterfront design still give preference to cars and relegate people to second class status. Poor designs lead to conflicts between pedestrians, cars and bikes which better designs can avoid. Bicycle routes should be continuous and avoid dismounts, have good sight lines and be separated from cars and pedestrians where possible. Cars should be kept far away from pedestrian and bicycle routes, so that traffic noise and dust doesn’t detract from these activities.

Downtown parking structures should be built to support both the downtown and waterfront locations. People will be more inclined to walk from downtown to the waterfront than the other way around. Additional long-term and overfl ow parking structures should be built between San Pedro and Wilmington. Next to the Harbor Freeway, these lots could go a long way to reducing car trips on older streets that can’t support them. Th ey could serve the cruise ship industry as well as day-long trips to San Pedro or Wilmington. The bigger objective of moving parking spaces out of the waterfront area is to get rid of their need altogether. Local and regional transit service into the Los Angeles Harbor area is poor, attracting mostly transit- dependent individuals and a few transit advocates. We need to expand service so it is sufficiently frequent, direct, and runs long enough hours to enough places. Parking fees, bed taxes on larger hotels, and cruise ship passenger fees could help provide for enhanced service. Long-term hopes include modern light rail service to the area.

The historic Red Car's grand opening drew rail and history buffs from far away.

The historic Red Car's route should be extended to reach the beach.

Community members and merchants would like to see the Red Car route extended south to reach the beach, west into the old downtown, and north to connect to neighboring Wilmington. Restoration of one historic car and construction of two additional replicas was a challenging operation led by Bob Henry of the Port of Los Angeles. Part of the Red Car’s existing and proposed routes follow historic paths. The line has been popular with tourists and added charm to the area. The historic Municipal Ferry Building houses the fascinating Los Angeles Maritime Museum which covers much of San Pedro Bay’s history. However, building may be put to better use supporting passenger service to other points in San Pedro Bay or along our coast. The Los Angeles Maritime Museum needs additional space and should be moved to a new building. Important questions as to how to best preserve the ferry buildings historic character need to be answered. It would be ideal to see this structure put to a water-dependent use.

Cruise ships and terminals should adopt a “Good Neighbor Policy” in which they agree to plug their ships into shore power rather than use their on-ship electrical generators which use bunker fuel, the dirtiest possible fuel. The Port of Los Angeles has already demonstrated strong leadership in planning a 10 megawatt solar facility to help generate clean power for plugged-in ships. Cruise companies should also limit noise so nearby residents aren’t bombarded with music and announcements. They should help develop charter transportation alternatives, so that vacationers don’t need to arrive by car. Locating cruise terminals at the north end of town, closest to downtown and transportation links is important to help revitalize the area and minimize use of cars.

Public commons
The greater San Pedro area lacks adequate public markets and meeting spaces, both indoors and outdoors. The Ports O’Call area should include a small conference center, serving about 1000 visitors, and providing double duty with general use and community rooms. An outdoor plaza should be able to hold a variety of gatherings. Ports O’Call should be set in a large public commons area, with scattered picnic spots, a shade tree canopy and ample landscaping and public art. Every turn should offer something interesting to visitors, a comfortable and enticing place to walk or bike.

Crowds enjoy the beach on the 4th of July.