"Parks First" Funding Available for Parks and Recreational Projects in the Vermont/Western TOD Specific Plan Area

Want a park in East Hollywood? The City has $984,542 in funding available, via a competitive grant program, for park and open space acquisition and capital improvement projects in that general area. Interested? Read on.

On December 17th the City Council adopted an Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Council Committee report (Council File 09-0971) relative to a second Request for Proposals for Parks First Trust Fund monies generated in the Vermont/Western TOD Specific Plan (.pdf) Area. The Parks First Program, which was created in 2001 as a part of the Vermont/Western TOD Specific Plan, was established to develop ten or more acres of small parks and other open space within the Specific Plan Area. Per a May 19, 2010 CAO Report (.pdf) on the Parks First Trust Fund, no competitive grants have been awarded and there had been no expenditures from the Parks First Trust Fund.

Note: To be clear, while this will be the second Request for Proposals for the Parks First Trust Fund monies no funding has, in 10 years, ever been awarded under this program. The First Request for Proposals, which was released in May 2009, only garnered three proposals for Parks First projects. The CAO recommended (per this report), and the City Council approved, the rejection of those three proposals due to (emphasis mine) "technical issues encountered with some of the Parks First proposals." Interestingly enough, the CAO's report does not detail what those "technical issues" were, nor does it divulge the names of those proposers whose applications may, or may not, have had "issues".

This second Request for Proposals (.pdf) (full packet available here) would make $984,542 in Parks First Trust Fund monies available for land acquisition and capital improvement projects for small parks, open spaces, or recreational projects within the Specific Plan Area. The City has set aside an additional $173,742 in Parks First Monies for the operation and maintenance of the parks and open spaces developed through the program. Those funds will be awarded through a separate competitive process that will be held at an as yet undetermined future date.

The deadline to submit proposals is February 8, 2011, at 3PM. Final awards of Parks First funding will be made, by the City Council, before June 30, 2011. Government entities, Non-Profits, and City Departments are all eligible to submit proposals for funding under this program. A Selection Panel, composed of members designated by Councilmember Eric Garcetti, and consisting of (1) at least one East Hollywood Neighborhood Council member, (2) at least one Business Representative who works in the Specific Plan Area, (3) at least one community member who lives in the Specific Plan Area, and (4) One member of Kaiser Permanente, will participate in the review of the project proposals.

For further information about this Request for Proposals, contact the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering, Recreational and Cultural Facilities office, at 213.473.5893 or at eng.propkrfp@lacity.org.