State of the City Address : Flores Maps New Plan to Control Growth Throughout San Pedro

Declaring that “we again need to be sure that San Pedro remains the unique place it is,” Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores on Thursday unveiled a three-pronged plan for controlling growth in the community, nearly a decade after a similar campaign was waged.

In her annual State of the City address before community leaders, Flores announced that she will:

Push ahead with an effort to revise the San Pedro Community Plan, which governs development through zoning. That plan, adopted in 1980, reduced San Pedro’s potential density by 60%, according to Flores. Now, she said, “the same arguments (about overdevelopment) that led to that decision are being heard again.”

Initiate a new “downtown specific plan” for San Pedro’s business district. Flores said recent construction downtown, including a new Sheraton hotel and office tower, show that downtown has different needs than the rest of San Pedro, which is largely residential.

Introduce an interim control ordinance which, if adopted by the City Council, will “help offset the threats to existing commercial businesses” along Pacific Avenue, beginning Feb. 1.

Officials and community leaders have been concerned that a recent rash of apartment development will hurt business along Pacific Avenue, once the community’s main commercial thoroughfare.

The interim control ordinance, a temporary measure, would require apartment developers to build farther back from the street. It would also ban new liquor licenses along the avenue, following the recommendation of a task force that Flores appointed last year to study Pacific Avenue’s problems.

As is her custom, Flores will appoint two citizens advisory committees to deal with planning issues: one to study the community plan, and another to study the plan for downtown.

The notion that revisions are necessary for San Pedro’s community plan is not a new one. The city Planning Department already has said it intends to bring community plans throughout Los Angeles up to date in the next five years.

Will Rely on Citizens’ Work

But Flores maintained that her initiative is preferable because it will rely on the work of citizens, rather than city planners. She said she will appoint a citizens advisory committee to study the issue and make recommendations.

In addition to her lengthy comments on planning matters, Flores devoted a significant portion of her speech to environmental issues.

She said she intends to propose that a new city department--the Department of the Environment--be created. The new department, whose role and enforcement powers she did not define, would deal with environmental problems faced by other city agencies, as well as by residents and businesses. It would also act as a “clearinghouse” for information, Flores said. The department would be governed by an appointed commission, similar to the Board of Harbor Commissioners.

Flores also pledged to continue pushing for laws at the city, state and federal levels that would require the Port of Los Angeles to offset environmental damage it causes by improving local habitats, rather than those outside the harbor area.

Flores’ speech, delivered before about 200 people at Nizetich’s restaurant near Ports O’Call Village, appeared to be generally well-received by the crowd, mostly business and community leaders.

Leron Gubler, executive director of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, cautioned against “a mad dash to downzone the community without thinking about any impact.” Of the new advisory committees, Gubler said that he hopes “that a lot of thought is put into what they do.”

On the other side of the development fence, Shanaz Ardehali-Kordich, leader of the San Pedro Downzone Coalition, said the councilwoman’s proposals did not go far enough.

“I think she’s aware that there’s a problem and she’s saying she’s looking into it but she hasn’t committed herself,” said Ardehali-Kordich, whose coalition is pushing for a moratorium on apartment building on Pacific Avenue and for a rezoning that would permit only duplexes and single-family homes in residential areas.

Of the proposed interim control ordinance for Pacific Avenue, Ardehali-Kordich said, “It’s a first step, I guess, but there still needs to be more of a control than just a setback.”

In her talk, Flores said that when the San Pedro Community Plan was implemented in 1981, some people complained that its curbs on development would depress real estate values and discourage businesses from locating in San Pedro.

“But history shows us another picture,” she said, citing “a new interest in commercial development” and real estate price increases of 20% to 25% last year.