CRA to Fund a Landscaping Design Plan for the Street Lighting Yard in East Hollywood

On Thursday, November 19th, the CRA Board of Commissioners will consider an item recommending the transfer of $150,000 in funding to the Bureau of Engineering to conduct a feasibility study and create a landscaping design plan for the Bureau of Street Lighting's East Hollywood Service Yard. The funding for this landscaping design plan would come from AB1290 and Tax Increment funds generated in the CRA's East Hollywood/Beverly-Normandie Project Area (even though the Street Lighting service yard is located 1/2 mile outside the Project Area).

The feasibility study would explore a potential redesign of the Bureau of Street Lighting's service yard in order to free up space that could be used to create public green space or a park on a portion of the property. The 4.2 acre service yard is located at 4550 Santa Monica Boulevard, between Madison and Virgil, and serves as the headquarters for the Bureau of Street Lighting's Field Operations District. The service yard contains administrative offices, storage areas, truck parking, and a maintenance/repair facility.

The publication of the final report for the feasibility study and landscaping design plan is not anticipated to be complete until July 2011, so any potential park/open space at the service yard would likely not come online until at least a few years after that (if any funding for park development is identified, of course).

Community members in East Hollywood have long had their eyes on the maintenance and service yard as a potential location for a new park. East Hollywood, like many communities in the City, has a great need for parks and public open space. 

However, as I've said before, I don't think focusing on the Street Lighting service yard is the best overall solution for the lack of park space in East Hollywood. There are other options, such as transforming blacktop school yards into public open spaces, or focusing on smaller parks and public spaces like the potential new park acquisition on La Mirada Avenue, which could be realized in fairly short timeframes and require relativity small capital investments.

The creation of public open space on a portion of the service yard would certainly help meet some, but not all, of the park and open space needs in East Hollywood. Hopefully the City is adequately exploring all the potential options and opportunities to create open space in East Hollywood and is not committing its limited resources and focus on just one site.