Chinatown dragon gate with City Hall in the background. Photo by Nic Garcia.

See a 360 degree panorama of Chinatown from corner of Broadway and Ord.

Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.

Learn more about Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy.

Portions of the adobe structures were built in the 1790’s as part of the Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera. Archaeological evidence indicates a prehistoric Native American village existed on this site.

Learn more about the Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy campaign.

Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.

The City Project, Dr. Robert Bullard and the Environmental Justice Resource Center of Clark Atlanta University, Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles, and NRDC have submitted public comments on the draft Environmental Impact Report concerning the Baldwin Hills Community Standards District to keep the Baldwin Hills green and clean for all for generations to come.

The City Project is proud to work with the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance (“GBHA”), the National Latino Congreso, and a diverse and growing coalition to engage, educate, and empower the community to better ensure that the Baldwin Hills are clean and green for all for generations to come. We seek to protect human health, homes, and the environment and restore the area to parkland by regulating the existing Oil Field. This is the next best thing to prohibiting oil drilling in this diverse and densely-populated urban community. We put people and parks before oil profits.

Plains Exploration and Production Company (PXP) plans to drill up to 1,000 new wells in the next 20 years, adding to its nearly 500 existing wells in the Baldwin Hills Oil Field.

The Alliance is working with elected officials and PXP to improve the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR or DEIR), and the County’s August 13, 2008, draft Community Standards District (draft August 13 CSD). “The County has decided to use its own version of a CSD as a base which will also incorporate all mitigation measures, selected provisions of the PXP CSD and the CSD prepared by the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance.”

The Alliance is working to establish health and environmental standards; public accountability; monitoring; a health and environmental baseline; oversight of the oil operations; a built-in process to improve the regulations as new information and better technology becomes available to protect health and the environment; transition to parkland; improved aesthetics; respect for all neighbors; and equal justice for all.

The City Project is committed to work with the community to make the dream come true for the Baldwin Hills Park. The two-square mile Park would be the nation’s largest urban park in over 100 years. The Park will provide the remarkably diverse and park-poor region with much needed green space for recreation, conservation, education, and economic vitality. The Baldwin Hills Park is the greatest public works project in the history of a community that has long suffered from environmental degradation and discrimination. These public comments focus on these issues.

The community has struggled long and hard for a park in the Baldwin Hills. The City Project worked with the community to stop a power plant and save the Park in 2001, to stop a garbage dump in 2003, to save the Baldwin Hills Conservancy and its budget when a Governor’s commission threatened to abolish both in 2005, and to stop 24 new oil wells without adequate environmental review in 2007.

Strengthened by years of struggle, the community remains even more determined than ever to make the dream for a park in the Baldwin Hills come true for all to enjoy.

Easily accessible to millions of people, with stunning views of the Los Angeles basin, the Pacific Ocean and surrounding mountains, the Baldwin Hills offer a unique opportunity within a dense and diverse urban community that is park poor to create a world-class park and natural space for all the people of California to enjoy.

Download these public comments here.

Learn more at www.greaterbaldwinhillsalliance.org and www.baldwinhillsoil.org.

Woman with umbrella at Central Plaza Chinatown 2006.  Photo by Nicolas Garcia.

Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.

Learn more about Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy.

Sacramento, CA – Senator Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) released the following statement upon hearing the California Department of Conservation’s request for additional time to review new modifications to the Baldwin HillsOil Field’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and the proposed Community Standards District.

“It has come to my attention that the Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) has formally requested the Board of Supervisors extend the public review and comment period for the Environmental Impact Report and proposed Community Standards District for the Baldwin Hills Oil Fields to allow the state Attorney General’s office to review a number of legal questions and issues. I want to strongly reiterate my call for the extension as an issue this important requires a process that is consistent with state law, transparent and maintains public confidence.

“When a responsible agency such as the Department of Conservation has not received notification of any proper modifications to the EIR and Community Standards District and has not been afforded the opportunity to review them, additional time must be granted to allow an adequate and thorough evaluation of the changes and the entirety of the documents. There are a number of complex legal and environmental issues that need to be answered before an informed decision on the project can be made.

“Given the proximity to a huge urban population and public concerns about the environmental impact of the oil fields, it is extremely important that every precaution be taken to ensure that all decisions regarding this project are made with accurate and complete information. Moreover, residents of the surrounding community, who will be most impacted by additional oil development, deserve and should be afforded additional time to read and comment on the EIR and Community Standards District. It is on their behalf that I initially requested the extension and will continue to call for it.”

Modeled after a church in Barcelona, Spain, the Cathedral of St. Vibiana was the first cathedral for the Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Monterey and Los Angeles. It was constructed between 1871 and 1876, when 3,000 of Los Angeles’s 5,500 residents were Catholic. Cardinal Roger Mahony proposed that the Cathedral be torn down after it was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and a new one be built in its place. Preservationists and historians protested, and the new cathedral was built on another site downtown overlooking the Hollywood Freeway. A developer has transformed the building into a site for special events.

The new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels opened in 2002.

Learn more about the Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy campaign.

Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.

The City Project has submitted public comments to the Regional Planning Commission to keep the Baldwin Hills green and clean for all for generations to come.

The City Project is proud to work with the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance, the National Latino Congreso, Concerned Citizens of South Central Los Angeles, and a diverse and growing coalition to engage, educate, and empower the community. We seek to protect human health, homes, and the environment and restore the area to parkland by regulating the existing oil field. This is the next best thing to prohibiting oil drilling in this diverse and densely-populated urban community. We put people and parks before oil profits.
The City Project is committed to making the dream come true for the Baldwin Hills Park. The two-square mile Park would be the nation’s largest urban park in over 100 years. The Park will provide the remarkably diverse and park-poor region with much needed green space for recreation, conservation, education, and economic vitality. The Baldwin Hills Park is the greatest public works project in the history of a community that has long suffered from environmental degradation and discrimination.

Easily accessible to millions of people, with stunning views of the Los Angeles basin, the Pacific Ocean and surrounding mountains, the Baldwin Hills offer a unique opportunity within a dense and diverse urban community that is park poor to create a world-class park and natural space for all the people of California to enjoy.

See generally www.greaterbaldwinhillsalliance.org and www.baldwinhillsoil.org.

In a letter dated August 11, 2008, Kenneth Kutcher of the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance addressed several questions to Russell Fricano of Regional Planning relating to the Baldwin Hills Community Standards District. Responses to these questions are listed below.

1. So far, how many CSDs have been established in the County?

As of this date, 23 CSDs have been adopted.

2. How many of these CSDs were the result of individual applications?

The Baldwin Hills CSD was the only one filed by an applicant. Under Section 22.44.040 of County Code this is permissible.

3. With the exception of the Baldwin Hills CSD, what was the largest acreage covered by the CSD?

The Acton CSD covers 72,000 acres.

4. What date did the Department of Regional Planning originally project for the date for releasing the Draft CSD and DEIR?

At the “Meet and Greet” session staff had provided an estimated date of September of 2007. This was referred to as an estimate only.

5. What were the reasons for the delay beyond that date?

Staff was waiting on the submittal of the CSD from the applicant and completion of environmental studies.

6. How should members of the public attain a copy of the DRPs’ copy of the Draft CSD when it is available?

Copies of the CSD will be sent via e-mail to interested parties, posted on the website and hard copies are also mailed on request.

7. How should members of the public provide their comments of the DRPs’ copy of the Draft CSD when it is available?

Opportunities for comment can be provided in testimony at the August 27 public hearing and the hearing proposed for September 10. Comments can also be submitted to staff: Please refer comments to:

Russell J. Fricano, Ph.D., AICP
Section, Head, Community Studies I
Los Angeles County
Department of Regional Planning
320 W. Temple Street, Room 1340
Los Angeles, CA 90012

8. When will the final EIR be available?

The Final EIR will be available once the consultant has prepared the response to comments and any other applicable documentation. No date has been set at this time.

9. What application process did the County recommend for processing future well proposals by PXP? And Why?

In this draft CSD the County is proposing a Director’s Review of future wells which is more restrictive than what the County code currently permits. This is a discretionary form of review and would be contingent on the submittal of an annual drilling plan subject to County review and public review. The Director’s review process provides the Director with an opportunity to impose additional conditions if he/she determines it necessary to be in compliance with the provisions of the CSD.

10. What approach is the County recommending to foster eventual conversion of the oil field to parkland?

Staff is recommending a drilling plan which also shows the location of abandoned and retired wells. This plan could be used to identify areas with the potential for future remediation for proposed conversion of parkland.

11. If there were another odor emission as occurred in January 2006, what would occur under PXP’s CSD if it were adopted as written by PXP?

PXP’s CSD is proposed to include all environmental mitigation measures. This includes Mitigation Measure FP.1-2:

“The oil field operator shall implement community alert notification system for automatic notification of area residences and businesses in the event of an emergency at the oil field.”

12. Since PXP’s legal representative indicating (during April 2008 meetings with community) that PXP would be revising their Draft CSD based on the mitigation measures contained in the DEIR, has the county received any revised CSD from PXP since the release of the DEIR?

The County has not received a revised CSD from PXP, but the operator has agreed to include the mitigation measures. The County has decided to use its own version of a CSD as a base which will also incorporate all mitigation measures, selected provisions of the PXP CSD and the CSD prepared by the Greater Baldwin Hills Alliance.

For more information visit www.greaterbaldwinhillsalliance.org and www.baldwinhillsoil.org.

“The California Endowment’s impact is already being felt . . . helping the
City Project, a . . . nonprofit organization working to broaden access to parks and open space for inner-city residents and, more recently, to fight childhood obesity by guaranteeing that . . . students get enough physical education.” New York Times, November 12, 2007.

Visit the Heritage Parkscape online and on flickr.

Learn more about Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy.

Maverick’s Flat Where It’s At is musical venue established in 1966. At the outset it primarily served the surrounding African-American community and artists.

Learn more about the Monuments, Diversity, and Democracy campaign.