The DWP owns the land beyond the fence. The city talked about
building a park there, but it would cost too much. Now it's a
deserted strip of land that people walk their dogs on and jog, even
though it's technically trespassing. Stay on this side of the fence
and you're fine.
The proposed project on L.A. land became too expensive,
officials say.
El Segundo has shelved plans to turn a 55-acre chunk of Los
Angeles-owned land on its western border into a park, citing
expenses and a lack of public support.
Cost estimates for the project, which would have leased the
three-quarter-mile stretch of land from the Los Angeles Department
of Water and Power, have ballooned to about seven times more than
what the city first estimated, said City Councilman Eric Busch, who
has shepherded the plans.
Early cost estimates to create entry points into the land
running between the department’s Scattergood Generating
Facility and the city’s western edge hit about $160,000, he
said.
But new figures - which would include physical improvements, as
well as security upgrades and added police patrols - approach about
$1 million, far too rich for El Segundo’s blood, Busch
said.
“The idea was to do it as a trial period for six months,
but if we’re north of $1 million just to kick the tires,
that’s too costly for an option,” he said.
Costs aside, public support for the plans, which would have
legitimized some residents’ long practice of squeezing
through fence lines to traipse through the area, has been lukewarm,
he said.
About 75 percent of residents who discussed the project at a
town hall meeting last month disapproved, Busch said.
And about the same percentage of written responses so far have
been negative, he added.
Busch, who is seeking re-election in April, was surprised to
learn so many people opposed the project.
“I was always operating under the assumption that the
people closest to the park would prefer to use it legally than
trespass on private property,” he said.
David Burns, the city’s former emergency services
coordinator, has long opposed the project largely because the land
abuts sensitive properties like Scattergood and Hyperion Treatment
Plant.
“From a homeland security perspective, keep the buffer
zone they say it’s supposed to be,” the Hillcrest
Street resident said.
On a smaller, more local scale, Burns worried about the effects
a new park would have on the surrounding neighborhoods - including
his own.
“Homeowners had concerns about sustaining property values
and also security and general well-being,” he said.
“Also, keeping people out and attracting an unsavory
element - people were concerned about that.”
But if people broke rules to walk their dogs or catch a view of
Malibu from the peaceful space before, El Segundo’s decision
to scrap park plans probably won’t change that -
they’ll just have to take their chances.
But meanwhile, the city will hold on to the preliminary plans,
in case things ever change, Busch said.
“In 30 years, circumstances may be completely
different,” he said. “For now, it will remain private
property, off-limits to the public.”