Environment Center, Library Face Council Vote on Zoning

Plans for an experimental environmental learning center are expected to move one step closer to reality today as the Los Angeles City Council considers a motion to change zoning designations on the Foothill Boulevard site of the proposed facility.

In the planning stages for about 18 months, the Los Angeles Environmental Awareness Center would be part of a $6-million project that would also include Lake View Terrace’s first public library.

“We’re trying to get the site prepared to move forward on the project,” said Councilman Richard Alarcon, who introduced the motion and has long championed the environmental center, which would be the only one of its kind in the city.

“There’s kind of a hodgepodge of zoning out there right now and we want to make it all consistent with public-use facilities,” Alarcon said, indicating that he did not expect any council opposition to the zoning changes.

Both the library and the learning center, which will focus on ecology and environmental issues, will utilize solar energy and be built with recycled materials, Alarcon said.

“It will be an educational tool to teach young people how to preserve their environment,” Alarcon said.

In March, the city purchased a 1.5-acre parcel at Foothill and Osborne Street that will serve as the primary location for the development.

Funding for the project will come from a variety of sources, including the Lopez Canyon Community Amenities Trust Fund, federal Community Development Block Grants and Proposition K, a bond measure to improve parks passed by Los Angeles voters in 1996.

On Monday, Alarcon asked Steven Soboroff, chairman of the Board of Recreation and Parks, to dedicate an adjacent lot owned by the department for use in the center as well.

The additional parcel would provide space for gardens and help connect the environmental center directly to outdoor recreational facilities at Hansen Dam, Alarcon said.

Located at the northeast corner of Hansen Dam, the property is adjacent to the site where Rodney G. King was beaten by Los Angeles police officers during his arrest in March 1991.