Camille's Back to Being Open on Saturday

As the old Caltrans site is cleared, the block is speaking for itself: It wants to be a park.
The St. Vibiana’s block is crying out, too: It wants to bring cultural connections to a disjointed landscape. A massive police headquarters does not fit on these blocks. It is a mismatch figuratively and literally.

Here’s some of what the Draft Environmental Impact Report has to say:

Traffic will come to a standstill. Traffic congestion associated the project will have a significant unavoidable adverse impact. There will be an estimated 19,000 extra vehicle trips per day generated by the headquarters. The evening rush hour will reduce the quality of traffic flow at 2nd and Main to a “D” and at 1st and Main to a “C”. That cannot be mitigated. For comparison purposes, both intersections are now rated an “A” even at peak hours. The EIR does not anticipate the impact of special events on traffic, or how emergency vehicles which now use 2nd Street as a key route, will get through. Or what will happen when there is police news and a swarm of media trucks descends on the site.

Neighbors will be exposed to “substantial pollution concentrations. Air pollution associated with construction of the project will have "significant unavoidable adverse impact". Air pollution during construction even with recommended mitigation measures -- is nearly 40% higher that is considered acceptable. The EIR acknowledges "sensitive receptors" (includes children, the elderly and ill) at the Higgins Building, the St. George and on the south lawn of City Hall. The report skirts the issue of long term increases in air pollution in the immediate vicinity. Even though the project “shifts” pollution into a compact, highly-concentrated work and residential area, the report finds there is no significant long-term impact on regional air quality.

No public parking in the immediate area. Most street parking on 2nd between Spring and Main and on Main between 1st and 2nd will go away. The surface lots on Main between 2nd and 3rd will go away. In all, the current 281 parking public spaces in the vicinity will be permanently removed. The 300-space garage at 1st and Temple will serve those who have business with the LAPD and in Little Tokyo. The eventual 140-space garage on Los Angeles Street will be public, but is destined to serve library patrons and users of the gymnasium to be built above it. Where will everyone else park?

No noise mitigation for the three-year construction of the main HQ. The 135 families, including infants and children, living in the Higgins Building just across the street from the main construction site are not considered “noise sensitive receptors” even though the building is recognized as residential by city, county and state agencies. Also not taken into account are the thousands of office workers surrounding the project. The only construction noise mitigation planned is for the garage and motor pool on Main Street.

Helicopters overhead. On a daily basis, police helicopters will be taking off and landing on the roof of the headquarters. That will be in a narrow space surrounded by City Hall, the Caltrans Building, the Los Angeles Times, St. Vibiana’s and the Higgins Building – eye-to-eye and just 250 feet from people’s homes. No mitigation measures are being taken. There is no guarantee that the flight path won’t be directly over any of these buildings.

Breaks trust. The disregard the EIR shows for downtown residents – in ignoring the impact it will have on them and in not addressing the pre-existing plans for a park – sends a powerful negative message. The city would like to have it both ways. It wants people to move downtown, into mixed-use settings so that the city will have new life at its core. Then, it wants to ignore that people live here

Here’s some of what the Draft Environmental Impact Report has ignored:

Plans for a park. The pre-existing plan for a park for the site is not mentioned at all. The plan is dismissed, like nearby residents, on a technicality. A park will be a breath of fresh air that connects and reinvigorates the Civic Center, Historic Core, Little Tokyo and Bunker Hill. Perhaps most importantly, it will give the people of Los Angeles a place in the Civic Center to call their own – and to experience the city, its history and institutions in a brand new way.

Cultural disconnect. The EIR does not acknowledge how the St. Vibiana’s block is developing into an arts and cultural center – and would continue to be redeveloped. LA needs cultural connections. It doesn’t need to box-in historic St. Vibiana’s by police operations and a gas station – or tear down the 1896 building where Gallery Row was founded. Police facilities are a critically important cornerstone of civic order – but that doesn’t mean they need to be on the city’s front lawn.

There are alternatives. In addition to the alternatives discussed in the report- both of which are environmentally superior to the old Caltrans site – there are other options the city can explore. It has been quick to dismiss those options because its priorities have not also included respecting the community that is being built downtown -- and making a welcoming space for its citizens and visitors in the city’s center.

There will be another EIR meeting at City Hall soon. Please be on the alert to attend and show your support for a park in your neighborhood. Please go to wwww.lacivicpark.org for all printed articles and information on this proposed project. Please write to the Mayor and City Council members to voice your concern before they go to vote www.cityofla.org to find their email addresses.