Wilson Vetoes L.A. River Parkway Bill

Citing “the increased potential” for flooding, Gov. Pete Wilson on Monday vetoed legislation to turn the 58-mile Los Angeles River corridor into an urban parkway augmented by commercial development and a high-speed railway.

Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) had pushed the proposal through the Legislature to set up the Los Angeles River Conservancy as a way of launching a sweeping plan to revitalize riot-scarred areas along the river corridor.

But Wilson said that “there has been a significant outcry against the measure by local government officials and citizens from Los Angeles County.” He said he was concerned about arguments from critics that the measure would undermine local control and increase the risk of flooding.

In addition, the governor said he was “troubled by the absence of a specific funding source for the many goals and duties of the new conservancy.”

Torres would have had to find up to $3 million in donations to pay for the conservancy’s start-up phase. Later, the conservancy could have tapped state bond funds for specific construction projects if it also identified a source of revenue.

But the key source of revenue for the ambitious project was to be private investment attracted to the corridor by a futuristic transit line from Griffith Park to Long Beach. Similar plans have been rejected by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, and an earlier version of the plan was informally dismissed earlier this year by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works.

Supporters immediately vowed to continue efforts to revitalize areas along the concrete river channel, which runs from the San Fernando Valley to San Pedro Bay. Three channelside restoration and park projects along the stream are now being developed.

Torres had hoped the project would mean thousands of jobs in low-income areas that were hard hit in the spring riots.

The centerpiece of the proposal was to be a 300-m.p.h. elevated transit line. The idea was pitched to Torres by Christopher M. Harriman, chairman of the Los Angeles River Transit Committee, a group Harriman said Torres suggested he establish.

Harriman said one of his inspirations for the project was the work of E. H. Harriman, an early Los Angeles railroad pioneer whom Harriman claimed as a relative. The Harriman family foundation in New York, however, said Christopher Harriman was unrelated to the family, which also included the diplomat W. Averell Harriman.

The origin of the idea to combine a transit line with housing, shops and parks is a matter of dispute. Los Angeles architect Neil Stewart said that the concept started with him and that he has already spent $200,000 developing it.

Harriman rejected Stewart’s claim of authorship, but he acknowledged signing an agreement designed to prevent him from promoting Stewart’s work as his own.

Torres said he was “deeply disappointed” by the governor’s rejection of his bill, maintaining that it would not have mandated mass transit along the river or affected flood control plans.

The bill sped through the Legislature after being introduced on Aug. 17, even after a dozen downstream cities mounted a last-minute campaign against it. They were unable to win over the Legislature, but persuaded the governor after a meeting with Administration officials.

Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell, one of those who came to Sacramento to lobby against the measure, said it would have a “devastating economic impact” on the southern part of the county.

Jerry Caton, city manager of Downey, said the conservancy would probably have imperiled a long-sought, $400-million upgrading of flood control by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps began building the concrete flood control channel in 1938, following serious flooding.

Harriman declined to comment on the governor’s veto.

The co-chairman of Harriman’s group is Prince Charles-Antoine de Ligne, an American-educated Belgian nobleman who lives in his family’s medieval castle. In May, de Ligne set up Larex Inc., a Los Angeles-based company whose sole business purpose is to profit from the development opportunities along the river, according to state records.

On Aug. 17, the date the bill was introduced, the company filed a statement of officers. Jeff A. Harrison, an attorney at the Los Angeles firm of Karns & Karabian, is registered with the state as the company’s agent. He did not return calls Monday.

Harriman’s committee is also represented by the firm, whose partners include former Assemblyman Walter Karabian.

Torres said that Larex would have been just one of many companies that could have applied for projects along the river. He said he suggested that Larex seek advice from Karabian’s firm but that the former lawmaker had nothing to do with conceiving the conservancy.