Rezoning Debate : Harbor Activists See Opportunity

Neighborhood activists in Wilmington and San Pedro, backed by their city councilwoman, hope to use a coming debate over a new zoning plan for the Port of Los Angeles to win concessions on a variety of issues.

However, officials at the Harbor Department and the city Planning Department say the rezoning is little more than a formality and is not intended to restructure the port. Rather, it will simply bring the city’s zoning code into conformity with land uses that already exist.

“This is not a vehicle for a new plan,” declared Sid Robinson, director of planning and research for the port. “It is not replanning.”

Nevertheless, said Ann D’Amato, harbor deputy to Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, “I think there are real opportunities here to set policy.”

No Reason Why

Peter Mendoza, president of Wilmington Home Owners, said there is no reason why the zoning changes have to follow what currently exists in the area.

“The zoning that’s proposed is consistent with the land use that’s there now,” he said. “But the land use that’s there now wasn’t there 15 or 20 years ago. That’s when Wilmington used to be a nice place, before the port had its way with us.

“I don’t want to call it rape, but . . . they’ve taken advantage of us in Wilmington. So now, when they look at consistency, sure, they look around and they’ve created this mess, so it’s consistent to continue.”

D’Amato said that although the proposed zoning may be consistent with what exists at the port, it conflicts with possible future uses, such as a proposal to clear industrial land at the base of Avalon Boulevard to give Wilmington residents access to the waterfront.

Council Must Approve

Flores feels strongly about that proposal, D’Amato said. And, she noted, because the zoning plan must be approved by the City Council, Flores will have some control over what is finally adopted.

The zoning plan is part of a citywide “consistency program.” Los Angeles, which is divided into 35 planning areas (the port is one), is required by state legislation and a court order to bring its zoning into conformity with its community plans. The port’s community plan was adopted by the City Council in 1982, but the corresponding zoning changes have not been implemented.

The proposed zone changes will be available for review at a public workshop Tuesday and will be the topic of a public hearing before a planning examiner the following Tuesday, March 22. The examiner’s report will be submitted to the Planning Commission, which will make a recommendation to the City Council.

Both the workshop and hearing will be at the Harbor Department headquarters in San Pedro and will begin at 3 p.m. and run until early evening.

In general, the proposed zoning is more restrictive than the current zoning. Most of the port is zoned M3, which permits a variety of heavy industrial uses--such as foundries, automobile wrecking yards and mining operations--that are considered inappropriate for the port. The remainder is zoned M2, for light industrial uses.

The proposed plan does not change the classifications, but it lists specific uses that are permitted in each section of the port. Among them: container terminals, liquid and dry bulk terminals, scrap metal terminals, shipbuilding yards, commercial fishing facilities, canneries, marinas, tourist attractions and restaurants.

However, D’Amato said some of the proposed uses are inconsistent with other plans. For example, she said Flores will probably object to a zoning provision that would permit various commodities--among them coal and petroleum coke, metallic ore, scrap metal and petrochemicals--to be handled in an area next to the new Cabrillo Marina complex.

Part of that site is currently occupied by the Kaiser bulk loader, which handles coal and petroleum coke. A port plan calls for the facility to be moved away from that area. Boat owners and public officials have complained the bulk loader pollutes the air and spews black dust onto vessels docked at the marina nearby.

However, Robinson, the port planning director, said that although an operation of the size and scope of the Kaiser bulk loader may not be appropriate in that section of the port, “there may be a small facility that would be acceptable.”

On other matters, the debate over zoning is likely to center on issues that have cropped up during public discussion of various other plans involving land use at the port.

Last month, for example, the Board of Harbor Commissioners held a public hearing on the port’s Hazardous Facilities Relocation Plan, which calls for moving some of the port’s hazardous cargo operations away from heavily populated areas.

At that hearing, D’Amato and neighborhood activists asked that the port alter its plan to include relocating the Wilmington Liquid Bulk Terminals in Wilmington and the Unocal tank farm in San Pedro.

The Unocal tanks, near a heavily populated area, are scheduled to be moved to a landfill that has not yet been built, and residents are pushing for an alternate site because they worry that the relocation will take too long.

The Wilmington terminals are at the base of Avalon Boulevard, the area pinpointed in a consultant’s study as the best spot for waterfront access in Wilmington. Unless the terminals are moved, that access will be blocked.

If they remain, Mendoza said, it will drive “the final nail in the coffin, sealing Wilmington’s fate as far as access to the waterfront.”