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Rio de Los Angeles State Park: General Plan

Overview
For river activists, Taylor Yard has always represented the brass ring. The 200+ acre historic site just north of downtown has represented the greatest opportunity to create a meaningful watershed-based project that exemplifies the multiple benefits approach to river revitalization. After a decade of controversy, lawsuits and community activism, the passage in 2000 of the statewide parks bond Prop 12 provided the means to realize a green vision of Taylor Yard. At The River Project’s urging in June 2000, the Governor and the State Legislature approved $45 Million to acquire lands at Taylor Yard to create the first new State Park in Los Angeles in a generation. California State Parks stepped up to meet a critical need in an area that has been neglected for years.

The Coalition for a State Park at Taylor Yard, organized by The River Project, filed a successful legal action against the City of Los Angeles, the Union Pacific Railroad and Lennar Partners to prevent further industrial development at the site. They advocated instead for a 100-acre urban park along the Los Angeles River that would meet both active and passive recreational needs, and restore some of our fast-disappearing native habitats. State Parks has committed to facilitating this integrated vision.

In the past, resource dollars were largely directed to pristine areas in northern California. That has changed along with the growing recognition that we have much of value to protect in Los Angeles. Our local mountains support of the most diverse and significant resources in the world. The remnant natural areas of our abused Los Angles River not only support some of the last riparian habitat in southern California, but as the reason for this city's existence, the river also clearly has great historic and cultural value. These things are all within State Parks’ mission.

But what is unique about Taylor Yard as a state park is that a dense population lives amidst these natural treasures in a burgeoning city that has some of the lowest park space per capita in the nation. In order to realize the complex vision that was the consensus of the more than 3 dozen community groups that made up the Coalition for a State Park at Taylor Yard, State Parks and Los Angeles City Recreation & Parks had to conceive a new way of working together. The partnership they have formed will plan together, hand in hand with the community, to create a unique and seamless urban park that will meet a multiplicity of needs in this vibrant city.

The state now owns 58 acres at the site. With continued community involvement, the critical remaining 44 acres along the river will ultimately be purchased as well. With over 100 acres and 2 miles of river frontage, the multi-objective State Park will become the centerpiece of the Los Angeles River Greenway.

Three parcels totaling over 100 acres are envisioned to comprise the State Park. State Parks is currently engaged in a community-based master planning process for the site. Taylor Yard is located along the LA River in the communities of Cypress Park and Glassell Park (between the 2 fwy and the 110 fwy) just north of downtown Los Angeles.

40 acres lie between San Fernando Road and the rail line, which separates it from the riverfront parcels. State Parks purchased this parcel in December 2001. This site has been designed to provide a combination of active recreation, picnic areas, habitat restoration, and educational and cultural facilities. The active recreation components have accomplished through a cooperative partnership between California State Parks and the City of LA's Recreation & Parks Dept. This phase of the park opens to the public on Earth Day 2007 and will provide great benefit the community as long range work on the riverfront land gets underway.

The River Project, with a grant from the Taylor Family and the California State Parks Foundation, collaborated with local students and a local artist to create the interpretive facilities for the State Park.

The 62 riverfront acres (parcel G) are the subject of an ongoing feasibility study funded by the State Coastal Conservancy to explore options for restoration. Formerly an active rail facility, the Union Pacific Railroad ceased operations in February 2003. Acquisition of this parcel is critical to the completion of the park and the restoration of the river. Plans for parcel G are focused on clean up, habitat restoration, flood hazard mitigation, stormwater remediation and passive recreational uses.

The project will take several years to achieve and will likely be accomplished through a phased approach involving partnerships between local, state and federal agencies. State Parks acquired the first 18 of these acres in December 2003.