Homeowners in Harbor Area Urge Vote for Prop. U

Homeowner groups in the harbor area are urging residents to vote for a slow-growth initiative on the November ballot, despite warnings from developers and some Los Angeles city officials that it could stifle the economic revitalization of San Pedro, Wilmington and Harbor Gateway.

Proposition U would cut in half the allowable size of new buildings on more than 2,800 acres of commercial and industrial land in the harbor area, including portions of downtown San Pedro and Wilmington, the 232-acre Wilmington Industrial Park and a 30-acre office complex near the intersection of the Harbor and San Diego freeways.

The initiative was sponsored by Councilmen Marvin Braude and Zev Yaroslavsky, and has gained a groundswell of support among homeowner groups throughout the city. The San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition and Wilmington Home Owners, the two largest organizations in the harbor area, support the measure.

But City Council President Pat Russell, joined by a majority of the council, including harbor-area Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, has called the measure flawed, saying it will discourage growth and investment in low-income areas that need more development. Although an effort led by Russell to dilute the measure fizzled this week because of legal difficulties, objections to it remain.

‘We Need Development’

“We in San Pedro spent six years on a community plan that earmarked a downtown revitalization area that we in the community want to see developed, and Proposition U would cut that development in half,” said Ann D’Amato, Flores’ harbor area deputy. “In Wilmington, the councilwoman is planning a revitalization program for the downtown, and the area in the Harbor Gateway has also been designated as a center for development. We really need development in these areas.”

Specifically, Proposition U reduces the size of commercial and industrial developments on lots in the city’s Height District No. 1, which includes portions of the so-called community “centers” in San Pedro, Wilmington and Harbor Gateway. Currently, the floor space of such developments cannot exceed three times the size of the “buildable” lot--that portion of the lot left after setbacks and other city requirements are met. Under Proposition U, the developments could not exceed 1 1/2 times the buildable lot.

The proposition’s authors have dubbed it the “Reasonable Limits Initiative,” saying it is designed to protect residential neighborhoods from “the relentless intrusion of office workers and shoppers,” while allowing the development of smaller-scale buildings and shopping centers.

But Larry Montgomery, executive director of the San Pedro Revitalization Corp., a nonprofit organization that is working to pump new life into downtown San Pedro, said the proposition discriminates against communities such as San Pedro that are struggling to revive rundown commercial areas. Rick Gaydos, chairman of the corporation, is one of seven people who signed the ballot argument against the proposition.

‘Not Appropriate’

“Other areas that have already gone through their development stages would be benefited,” Montgomery said. “It would keep businesses from coming to areas like ours where the potential exists, in favor of going to areas already developed. One of the fundamental problems with Proposition U is that it does not distinguish between areas. I can see on the surface why someone might be in favor of reductions in some areas, but it is not appropriate to downtown San Pedro.”

Montgomery said there are no plans to develop lots in the revitalization area beyond the lower limits that would be imposed by Proposition U, but he said the restriction could discourage future development and investment in the downtown.

“Development is a bottom-line business,” he said. “When the time comes that we need some buildings removed, the only way they will be removed is if the paycheck is there. If the property can only be developed to half its potential, that might be discouraging.”

But representatives from homeowner groups in San Pedro and Wilmington said predictions of doom and gloom are exaggerated. Residents throughout Los Angeles are tired of commercial and industrial developments intruding on their neighborhoods, they say, and it is time for the city to consider the quality of residential life above commercial interests.

“If anyone wants to put something up in the community that is beneficial to Wilmington, the community will support it,” said Peter Mendoza, president of Wilmington Home Owners, whose members collected about 1,000 signatures to help qualify Proposition U for the ballot. Opponents of the proposition “are taking the right away from the community and handing it to the developer,” he said.

Noah Modisett, who heads the San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition, said delegates from the dozens of homeowner groups that form the coalition voted to support Proposition U because it requires developers “to make the case” for a development.

‘Burden of Proof’

“It puts the burden of proof on the change agent--the developer,” Modisett said. “This doesn’t obviate the development from happening. It just means the plans need to be presented before the fact, rather than after the building is built.”

Modisett said homeowners in San Pedro support efforts to revitalize downtown San Pedro, and said worthwhile projects will be welcomed by the community and exempted from the Proposition U restrictions. “Our perception is that exceptions can be made,” he said.

D’Amato, however, said the process could be long and cumbersome.

“It would be more bureaucracy and more red tape,” she said. “The communities have already said they want these areas developed.”

Stan Michota, senior vice president for Cadillac Fairview California, which is building a 270-acre industrial park in Harbor Gateway that includes the 30-acre office complex that would be affected by Proposition U, said developers can never be certain of exceptions.

“They say they are going to permit exceptions in the future, but I have also heard that there might not be any,” he said. “This is an awfully heavy-handed approach to planning.”

Cindy Miscikowski, chief deputy to Councilman Braude, said Braude and Yaroslavsky envision exceptions to the growth limits, but she said the two councilmen want to ensure that the exceptions are granted only with the concurrence of the surrounding community.

“Both councilmen believe there may be areas where a reasonable density higher than 1.5 to 1 is appropriate,” Miscikowski said. “But where those areas occur, the (exceptions) should be based on individual requests involving the community, so the residents feel they are participating themselves. Where there is a meritorious project, it can be developed even if Proposition U passes.”

PROPERTY AFFECTED BY PROP. U

Commercial Industrial Community Acres Acres Wilmington/Harbor City 255 1,536 San Pedro 88 77 Harbor Gateway 81 771 Total 424 2,384

Source: Councilman Marvin Braude’s office.