Port director discusses San Pedro waterfront project

By Donna Littlejohn Staff Writer
Posted: 07/15/2009 06:51:39 PM PDT

San Pedro's waterfront development project is set to move onto center stage again in September, when a final plan is set to be released. Six years after the effort was formally launched, the waterfront makeover has languished in recent years, with progress impeded by a political turnover and entrenched community disputes over how much development should be allowed.

The 400-acre waterfront project was among several topics addressed this week by port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz, speaking Tuesday evening at an outdoor meeting of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council.

"A big chunk of the promenade is already under construction by the (Cabrillo) marina," she said. Also under way is work on a plaza near the fishing slip where a large "ghost fish" sculpture will hang. A park on 22nd Street is set to be finished by the end of this year, Knatz said. The report going to the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners in September will include long-term elements of the plan, including work on Ports O' Call Village. How fast the development can be implemented, however, has been complicated by the recent economic downturn.

In June, commissioners approved a $1.13 billion budget that reflected a 1.8 percent spending decrease over the previous year.
Meanwhile, Knatz said the port is aggressively going after federal stimulus funding. The port has received $23 million of about $66 million in grants it has been pursuing for infrastructure work and to further cut pollution in the port complex.

In other remarks, Knatz said:
Work is under way to put in 700 new boat slips at the Cabrillo Marina, replacing a dilapidated section of the facility. The Army Corps of Engineers on July 8 authorized the removal of a groin, or jetty, connected to the boat ramp at Cabrillo Beach that officials believe is impeding water circulation and contributing to the area's notoriously poor water quality. Overhead bird exclusionary wires also will be installed along the sand.

Construction is progressing on the new, 51,000-square-foot Port Police headquarters on Fifth Street in San Pedro. The building, however, won't be finished until early 2011.

Members of a citizens committee need to wrap up their work on plans for a park at the top of Knoll Hill. "We need a plan," she said, adding that panel concerns over how plans will be implemented won't be answered until later. "I urge you to not worry about implementation. We have to work these things out once we have a plan."

donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com