(rendering via San Pedro Waterfront)
The plans to remake the San Pedro waterfront into a Disneyesque happy land of shops, tourists, and cruise ships has been handed a heaping pile of hate from locals. In what can only be described as a smackdown, the waterfront plans were criticized for showing lack of vision, creating more pollution, and ruining the natural beauty of the area. Some also accused the plan of kowtowing to the cruise ship industry. As much as we tried to find a positive spin on the plan, there is none. EVERYONE, hates it. Even God is probably ready to smite the planner in charge.
June Burlingame Smith, who heads up a port advisory panel overseeing the waterfront planning, complained that the current plan did not go through the panel's regular community review channels first. "The current plan is a 'drive-by' plan," she said. "Drive by the waterfront; drive by downtown San Pedro; drive by the museums, monuments, restaurants and shops, to get to a cruise ship where dreams of happiness will be found in faraway foreign playgrounds. ...
"San Pedro is an artistic, historic community," Smith continued. "... (B)ut this drive-by plan leaves us high and dry on our own shores, creeping along choking arteries, hoping some cruise passengers will drive in and not by, leaving us all trying to find a parking space. ..."
The Port of LA is moving forward with a draft environmental impact report that will take into account the public comments. A final EIR, should the project move forward as is, would be released in 2008.
· San Pedro waterfront plan revision draws contempt [Daily Breeze]
· Breeze Coverage of the Scoping Meeting [Life on the Edge]