THE COUNTY’S ‘VISIONING’ PROCESS
What the Circles Mean (without the County’s spin)
The “Residential District” Circle
Huge area of coastal side of the Marina given over to apartment blocks, the lowest option for development under the California Coastal Act, with little or no mitigation as required by the Coastal Commission. County creating a forbidding neighborhood of high walls and guarded or digi-coded entrances with no provision for motorcar parking or even waiting. The perceived impression will be ‘Visitors Keep Out’.The “Visitors Row” Circle
This area, at present occupied, by boatyards, boating facilities and the public launch ramp is to be converted to shops, totally unneeded in a neighborhood which is probably the most heavily shopped area in southern California — five supermarkets within walking distance of each other and the Costco store on top of that. Prepare for traffic snarls.The “Boaters’ Way” Circle
Boating facilities including the relocated public launch ramp crammed into half the area. Boater’s Way to be dominated by a massive boat stacking tower looming over the natural panorama of the Ballona Wetlands and sticking out 100 ft over the water.My Visioning
Looking eastward from the ocean, the area of Venice Peninsula and Marina del Rey forms a large block of land divided into strips like a Mille Feuilles pastry.
Working in from the ocean the first strip is, of course, the Venice Peninsula beach. This is a wide swathe of sand stretching just under a mile southward from the crowded alleys of Venice to the wide inlet which furnishes the waters of Ballona Creek. The beach is not exploited as fully as it might be by recreation seekers because the property owners who have their houses and apartment blocks along the sand’s edge. They have opposed extending a bicycle trail down the beach to the Marina inlet and they have fought against the completion of a promenade in front of their houses. I am not entirely without sympathy for their objections as I will explain later. Part of the extreme southern portion of the beach is fenced off as a breeding space for a bird species called the Lesser Tern and within the fences the beach has reverted to its original form of dunes spiked by tufts of grass. A drawback to being so close to the Ballona Creek entrance is that in the rainy season the trash of Los Angeles City gets swept out into the ocean and then back on to the beach requiring a major clean up lasting over a period of days. Oil seepage from the ocean floor and possibly from boats illegally discharging their old oil can form black globs on the sand at times, making bare-foot jogging a hazard. The peninsula is mainly the preserve of joggers and long-distance walkers. A very limited population lives along the beach edge so it is rare to see the sand much used.
The next layer is a strip of houses and apartment blocks stretching as little as a hundred yards inland in most parts and bordered to the east by Pacific Avenue. The series of narrow alleys which run from the avenue through to the beach have been given attractive marine names in alphabetical order — Anchorage, Buccaneer, Catamaran, Driftwood etc. — but not quite making it to Z for Zephyr which is called the Main Canal Inlet. During the days of the California oil boom this strip was dotted with donkey engine drills with their bobbing heads pumping up the oil from beneath the sands. The last of these drills disappeared in the late nineteen hundreds and real estate development took over. Fears are occasionally raised that the oil wells were not adequately capped and that there could be a seepage of explosive methane gas from beneath the houses. As I have said, the residents of Venice Peninsula beach have resolutely opposed any extension of the coastal bike path or pedestrian promenade down their beach. They understandably fear that either of these pathways could bring the drug dealers and purveyors of stolen goods from the Venice boardwalk down into their tranquil neighborhood. The result is that there is no bike trail down the beach and the promenade is a ridiculous stop-and-start of a wide cement walkway illuminated with handsome street lamps cut off by areas where there is no path, no lighting and walkers have to slog their way through sand, often having to detour round the deck chairs and gardens of residents who have taken over the intended promenade area as their own space.
The next layer is Abbot Kinney’s main canal which has been allowed to fall into an unsightly state of disrepair with rotting timbers and blocks of cement poking up from its waters. The main canal also forms a barrier for people further inland getting to the beach. In its near mile length there is only one bridge – that is at the letter L or Lighthouse Street. Why there are so few bridges and the reason for the sorry state of the canal is hard to decipher. The barrier of the Main Canal is one of the principal causes for the dyslectic development of the whole area and for the spats between County and City officials which can be acrimonious. Additional bridges at H for Hurricane and R for Reef are absolutely essential.
Over the other side of the Main Canal is another strip of City territory and the way this has been developed is a tremendous credit to the City. It is comprised of handsome single family homes, many of them of considerable architectural interest. Between rows of houses the City has planted little garden malls. And along the Canal a path has been reserved for pedestrians who can study the houses and gardens and observe the bird life in the water. Wow!! The only drawback is that pedestrians are unable to break away to get to the beach without tramping to either end of the mile-or-so long path. And even if they could get to the beach, no proper beachside promenade awaits them.
The next strip is the main drag of Via Marina which is the divide between City and County for most, but not all, of its length. At the beginning and the end of Via Marina, County territory is on both sides of the Marina. This has caused a major problem to arise between the City and County over the building over a main drainage pipe between Venice and points south. The city wants the pipe to go along Via Marina. The County opposes this and has taken its objections all the way up to the Supreme Court. Via Marina is a car speedway with not many more traffic controls than the Main Canal has bridges. Pedestrians crossing it do so at the risk of their lives for much of its length. There is also no bicycle path. So added to the fact that the beach residents have nixed a bicycle path on the beach, the message is pretty clear that cyclists are not wanted in Venice Peninsula.
Inland from Via Marina lies the Marina proper.
This layering and division of jurisdictions has resulted in a development process in which recreational interests are disregarded on both sides. On the County side recreation is being squeezed by over development. On the city side, the laissez faire attitude of city officials bending unduly to the wishes of the beach dwellers has had an equally harmful effect. My feeling is that if this state of affairs continues it will result in the Marina/Venice Peninsula area being written off by Los Angeles’ population as overcrowded, overtrafficked and inaccessible.
I believe that if the Marina/Venice Peninsula area is to be made into a true tourist attraction (and not just the polished gem of County officials imaginings which is supposed to lure tourists to its incandescent gleam) City and County officials have to bury their hatchets and get together to plan the development of their joint territory.
I have been largely critical of the County during this work but it must be admitted that most of the work that remains to be done lies with the City. The main canal has to be cleaned up and a few more bridges put across it to encourage the residents of the Marina to use Venice Peninsula Beach. Once this is done, hotels on the County side have to emphasize that the Beach is only a few attractive steps away. If Venice Peninsula residents’ objections to the promenade being completed all the way to the Venice boardwalk need to be taken into account at this point, then the city should at least complete the promenade from Lighthouse southward to the Marina entrance so City and County residents and visitors have an attractive walk rather than the ridiculous intermittent slug of cement and sand which they at present have to endure. City and County need to set up a joint development committee with powers to rule on the suitability of projects for luring tourists. Such a committee would be something on the lines of the original Marina Design Control Board with city councillors and supervisors retaining the power to veto any project of which they disapprove. It would also have the effect of mitigating the power of developers to lead the County by the nose and of beach property owners dictating beach development policies to the City.
One project that springs immediately to mind is that a restored main canal could once again become the bearer of Abbot Kinney’s gondolas. Hired gondolas and paddle boats could ply the calm waters of the canal, free of the boat traffic of the Marina itself. Then there is a rational development of the beachside promenade.
Having said what the City should do, let me return to the County. The Supervisors have a chance to redeem themselves by turning the area along Fiji Way on the south side of the Marina into a totally youth serving area. At present the plans are to erect an unsightly wall along the edge of the Ballona Wetlands consisting of the boat-stacking tower, another stretch of their abysmal apartment units, and a semi-circular building shown in the architectural mock-up as having a few tables and umbrellas and which is being touted as some sort equivalent of the French Riviera promenades. It is doubtful if many people are going to be tempted to drive past the boat-stacking tower and the apartment block to get to these outdoor tables, and the project has every chance of being as big a fiasco as the faux Fisherman’s Village which it replaces is now. But a youth hostel, basketball and handball courts would attract a huge crowd of young people. And to pay for it all, the County could permit a number of very profitable youth cafes and nightclubs.
