Looking ahead, the numbers are startling.
In the next 15 to 20 years, the San Pedro Community Plan envisions adding 4,500 housing units and 5,000 new jobs.
Those statistics were shared Thursday, Sept. 21, by Los Angeles Councilmember Tim McOsker at his first State of the District speech since being elected in November.
“Because we live here,” he said, it’s clear that the community’s “oldest parts of our residential and shopping districts” will be insufficient to support that kind of growth.
To sate the desire for improved sidewalks, streets, parks and other amenities as a result of the increased development, McOsker said, he is pushing to establish what would be the city’s first Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Distirct, which would use future property tax increments for the city and county to support those needs in neighborhoods such as Vinegar Hill, the historic downtown business district, Rancho San Pedro and the surrounding areas.
“These are not new taxes,” McOsker said, “but our share of taxes attributed to increasing values in our area.”
It would be the first EIFD district in the city of Los Angeles if approved, he said.
That was only one of the topics the council member touched on during the luncheon speech at the Dalmatian-American Club in San Pedro, which more than 300 people attended. The event was sponsored by the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce.
McOsker expressed concern about the upcoming roadbed replacement that will close all or part of the heavily traveled Vincent Thomas Bridge that spans the busy Port of Los Angeles.
Caltrans, he said, has “accepted my requests, including creating a community advisory committee to get feedback to minimize construction impacts on adjacent communities.” While the work is needed, McOsker said, mitigations to offset and repair impacts on local communities must be included.
In other remarks, McOsker, an attorney and lifelong San Pedro resident, stressed the importance of his…
Read the full article here