Community activists won a major victory in their effort to protect Griffith Park from various proposed development projects when city planners on Tuesday recommended granting it cultural-historical monument status.
The finding that the park — with the exception of the zoo, Autry National Center, I-5, Roosevelt Golf Course and Toyon Landfill — meets the criteria for preservation sets the stage for a hearing Oct. 30 of the City Cultural Heritage Commission.
Community activists have intensified their campaign in recent months and will step up their pressure on the commission in the next week.
Various proposals have been made for projects in the park and the cultural-historical monument status would make sure there is a full and public examination of any development to protect what most would agree is L.A. greatest asset.
The Planning Department’s Office of Historic Resources saw the importance of that in the report prepared by Edgar Garcia and Ken Bernstein. The challenge now is to make sure the commissioners respond and to mount a major public campaign to keep the City Council from slipping in loopholes.
Here’s their report: griffithparkreport.pdf.
This report is far less than a true victory. Three important facilities in Griffith Park were omitted from the application: the Roosevelt Golf Course, the Toyon Canyon Reclaimation site, and the biggest issue of all — the Gene Autry Museum site.
Why were these facilities omitted? Unfortunately, the “why” lies in special interests, not in the public interest.
Let’s take each facility individually.
It’s unclear why Roosevelt golf course was singled out for omission. There are facilities of various sizes and types in Griffith Park that are far newer than this golf course which were left in the recommendation for Historic Monument status. One has to ask “why”? Does this have anything to do with a possible expansion by the Greek Theatre, which is nearby? Recently Greek Theatre staff have been increasing their sphere of control around the facility by coning off larger and larger sections of Vermont Ave hours or even days earlier than needed for events. This territorial takeover effectively bars the public from utilizing that section of the park. The Greek has also been allowed to extend its season and add more shows than their CUP allows. This goes unchecked by the Department of Recreation and Parks to date. So is the exclusion of Roosevelt golf course really a means to a different end?
As for Toyon Canyon… ah, yes. Toyon. In the heart of the wildlife area where a stream used to flow. Whose official closure plan promises the public in writing that it be returned to vital native habitat. And where Councilmember LaBonge wants so desperately to develop. LaBonge’s laundry list in recent years has included cable cars to the top of the landfill, baseball fields, and huge facilities – innocuously described as “picnic areas” – suitable for outdoor concerts and corporate-sized gatherings.
The center of Griffith Park was closed to traffic in the 1980s for a multitude of reasons: inability to maintain the roads safely, serious and uncontrollable lewd conduct activities, fire danger, and so on. Unfortunately, all of LaBonge’s development plans for the old landfill site mean opening the center of the park back up to automobile traffic to access the new facilities, as well as adding extensive parking to the laundry list of development. Once the roads are re-opened to Toyon, why not the rest of the park?
We all know this is how City Hall operates: get a footing in the area desired by granting an exception in zoning, use, etc., then use it as precedent to continue the practice.
Finally, there’s the Autry. You’ll note that I am not arguing about the LA Zoo’s exclusion which is next to the park land that the Autry occupies. Although the Zoo has consumed hundreds of acres of Griffith Park, the Zoo is a City-owned and run facility. The taxpayers of Los Angeles own the facility as well as the park land it developed and occupies for free. (It should not, however, be allowed to install colossal neon advertising in a park such as the new Zoo sign… remember what happens when the City creates “precedent”?)
Ownership by the citizens of Los Angeles is NOT the case with the Autry — a private business engaged in an illegal use of open-space occupying public-owned and rare park land via a LEASE for just $1 per year. A business that wants more and more and more on the backs of the taxpayers:
The land the Autry sits on is Griffith Park. The Autry is just a lesee with a finite amount of time on said lease. Yes, they do not own the land, are there by a CUP, are paying an absolutely criminal amount of money for the lease, and are even now demanding a far larger cut of precious public resources. But the bottom line is that they are simply a lesee of part of Griffith Park. The land they are on belongs to the citizens of Los Angeles and the citizens are saying they want all of Griffith Park to be a historic monument. The Autry must not be excluded from the historic monument designation.
So overall, the Cultural Heritage commission’s staff report is a victory of sorts. Unfortunately, without any other reason but to appease special interests, the commision report leaves the door wide open for further abuse of the park and the continuing rape of the taxpayers of Los Angeles.
Ron-
The staff report will mean nothing if political pressure Tom LaBonge is placing on the commissioners is successful. If Tom LaBonge was sincere that he is a preservationist, he would be organizing a bus to help people get to City Hall in favor of the monument designation. Since he is not, people may draw their own conclusions about what kind of preservationist Tom really is.
Instead, he had Renee and Rory call the Department Heads of City utilities into his office and beat them into submission. As a result, some City Departments went to the monument status hearing and gave testimony against the monument. Mr. LaBonge is not fooling anyone with his claiming to be a preservationist while doing everything possible to sell Griffith Park out to filthy corporate interests who want their greedy hands on the land. That goes for the unnamed corporations and the disgusting Autry Board of Directors who want millions of dollars of continuing LA taxpayer subsidies.
Tom will use the expansion of the Autry as a precedent to justify the expansion of the Greek and other expansions into OUR parkland.
People cannot sit back and expect the Commission to adopt the staff recommendation. Ron, you should be ringing the alarm to get people to appear at the hearing to testify for FULL monument status with NO exceptions. ALL of Griffith Park is worthy of monument status. Let’s protect it from the band of thieves for whom Tom LaBonge is whoring.
It is going to be sad to watch a world cup without Ronaldo, this will be my first World Cup without The Best Player Ever Taking Part Of It .
Thanks for the comment, bookmarked!