Protest, Lawsuit Seek to Save Land for Park Along L.A. River

Soccer parents joined forces Monday with environmental groups to announce they will file a lawsuit today to block development of land that they want to become the centerpiece of an urban park renaissance along the Los Angeles River.

About 150 marchers, including children being pushed in strollers, demonstrated across the street from a blighted industrial site and former railroad switching station called Taylor Yard. It is close to the river in the northeast Los Angeles community of Cypress Park.

The rally, held on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, was a chance to share their dream: A 41-acre park and soccer fields next to a 62-acre proposed river restoration project that would add some greenery to one of the nation’s most developed cityscapes.

“We don’t want more warehouses. We need a park. We need a place where our kids can play soccer,” said Jose Lerma, 38, as he bounced his young daughter on his hip in the morning chill.

That part of Los Angeles is distinguished by its dearth of open space. Auto shops, fast-food restaurants and small businesses are shoe-horned along San Fernando Road and beyond. The few postage stamp-size parks in the community are insufficient to accommodate all the youth sports, forcing the 600-member Anahuak Soccer Club to cancel games and practices for youngsters due to lack of space, said club official Abraham Soto.

Residents thought they had the solution at the old Taylor Yard, a Union Pacific rail yard with one of the largest chunks of vacant land near downtown Los Angeles.

The property is not much to look at, covered with weeds and broken concrete, flanked by steel rails and grimy locomotives belching plumes of soot. With the railroad scheduled to pull out in a few years, it has enormous potential--and that has attracted competing suitors.

Gov. Gray Davis believed in the community’s dream enough to commit $45 million in state funds for use at Taylor Yard. That money can be used to convert rail switching yards along the river to riparian habitat to nurture wildlife and reduce flood risks and to acquire an adjoining parcel along San Fernando Road for playing fields.

The projects are at the core of state efforts to expand recreational opportunities in urban areas. Funding comes from a $2.1-billion bond measure, Proposition 12, that voters approved last March.

But shortly after the governor approved money for the park, Florida-based Lennar Partners bought the 41 acres with the goal of turning it into an industrial and retail center. Los Angeles officials have approved that proposal, saying it will provide 1,000 jobs in an area of high unemployment. City officials could not be reached for comment Monday.

But opponents say the city acted in haste by not requiring an environmental impact report.

Not only would such a survey require examining alternatives to development of the property, but it would address air quality issues. Opponents say the building on the properties would attract more big trucks and diesel exhaust, which California health officials have declared is a cancer-causing agent.

“L.A. is a city that is park-poor. This community has fewer parks per acre than any other community in the city,” said Joel Reynolds, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the NRDC, Friends of the Los Angeles River, the Coalition for Clean Air, and the Anahuak Soccer Club.