Review for San Pedro Renewal Project OKd

Officials have moved forward with a plan to launch another urban renewal project for this seaside community’s quaint but stagnant downtown area--but rejected a plea by some community leaders to include Port of Los Angeles turf.

The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency Commission voted unanimously last week to establish a study area for the proposed Pacific Corridor Redevelopment Project, the first step in a program to spruce up the area.

The area under study borders the port-controlled lands along the waterfront and encompasses an earlier and smaller renewal project known as the Beacon Street Community Redevelopment Project. It also includes Pacific Avenue, a major north-south commercial thoroughfare plagued in recent years by empty storefronts and rundown buildings.

San Pedro activists, including leaders of a drive to secede from Los Angeles, pushed unsuccessfully for port inclusion in the new CRA project boundaries. The activists wanted one master plan for the whole area, including the languishing Ports O’ Call Village of shops and restaurants on port land.

Port officials, however, objected to including their properties, saying they could work cooperatively with the CRA to improve the community’s economic prospects without ceding their authority. They did, however, authorize a joint agreement with the CRA outlining cooperative efforts to improve the area.