San Pedro Waterfront finally moving forward

When I attended an earlier meeting regarding the San Pedro Waterfront about 2 years ago, the attendees were a near-even mixture of supporters and opposers to the Port of LA's proposed project. Leading the charge to move the project forward, as he has been for over 10 years, was John Papadakis, co-owner of the nearby Greek restaurant Papadakis Taverna with his brother Tom that has been one of the few draws for non-locals to come to San Pedro since its opening in 1973. (Note: Papadakis Taverna & Ports o'Call were the only reasons for a former Redondo Beach kid like me to come to San Pedro. Because of these, I later learned what a fantastic place to live San Pedro truly is.)

The opposition groups were fully engaged back then, and had already convinced the meeting's panel that the speaker cards should alternate between those-for & those-against the Waterfront project. This allowed more of the opposition coalition, many who had come in late due to arriving from out-of-town, to get their comments in before locals like me and others who had made it on time.

I remember John speaking passionately & enthusiastically about the vision of the Waterfront Promenade, and as a neighborhood council member at the time, I vowed to do what I could to assist in that vision. What I soon discovered after the meeting, after both a glass of Greek beer with John and through many generational Pedrans who have welcomed my family and shared their families' legacies, was that the Waterfront Project has the support of the "true" locals, and that the moment would soon come when this project would be released from its enviro-activist chains.

That moment came on Tuesday, when over 500 local supporters filled the large gymnasium at the Boys & Girls Club to show the Harbor Board of Commissioners that San Pedro was not going to wait any longer. No more delays while another study was conducted; no more dead-end negotiations with enviro-activists who only had their alternative as acceptable; and no more fence-sitting for local politicians.

Prior to the public comment portion of the commission's consideration of the project, the Port staff presented a list of nearby every state and local politician, including Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, State Senator Lowenthal, State Senator Wright, and even State Senator Oropeza, to her credit. Councilmember Janice hahn opened the comment portion of this meeting with her support, with a caveat that Downtown San pedro be addressed first in the list of sub-projects within the overall project. Staffers from some of the supporting politicians gave representative remarks, and then former (and potentially future) City Councilmember Rudy Svorinich gave his comments about how long San Pedro has been waiting for this project. Then he asked the supporters in the room to stand....

Over 90% of the crowded audience rose to their feets and applauded each other for attending this momentious event to get this project started. John Papadakis soon followed, and I could tell he was finally starting to feel the tide shifting. He was right back then, and he was right on Tuesday. San pedro deserves this waterfront, and the community was going to accept nothing less.

Dr. Geraldine Knatz, Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, and her tireless staff deserve huge appreciation for their repeated late nights to address issues by local activists on all sides of proposed improvements, and for vetting every possible concern in their Proposed Project Summary that every attendee and local redicent received. Dr. Knatz and her team researched hard, objectively and passionately to help create the vision presented on Tuesday night. I can honestly say that the Port staff understand what the overwhelming majority of the San Pedro community wants to see on its waterfront.

I wish them godspeed and success in making the vision a reality, and renew my commitment to helping in any small or large way I can to keeping this project moving forward.

But what do you think? Despite the nearly 10 years it's taken to get this project past the initial EIR stage, do you think move time should have been taken? Any sound offs about how long it takes to get projects like these moving, especially in more left-leaning regions of the district?

Thoughts?

Examiner Article