1 Subject: FW: Remarks for steering committee, April 10 From: Holly Osborne <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2023 7:03 PM
To: CityClerk <[email protected]>
Subject: Fw: Remarks for steering committee, April 10
CC 4/11/2023 J.1
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Holly Osborne <
To: Natalie Champion <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, April 9, 2023 at 09:27:21 PM PDT
Subject: Remarks for steering committee, April 10
Good afternoon:
My name is Holly Osborne, I live in North Redondo Beach, one block from Lawndale, and within walking distance of the ROW. Two months ago, the South Bay COG had a guest speaker, David McNeill, from the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, who talked about bringing parks to the people, by finding opportunities to preserve open green spaces in crowded, urban areas. I watched your meeting on Zoom, and I thought, "This is the absolute perfect person to talk to about making the ROW a green space in Lawndale." (I had months ago read the County's Park report on Lawndale, and the desire of Lawndale to be able to have that as green space was mentioned there.) So, anyway, I contacted Mr. McNeill about the ROW situation, and asked if he had any ideas about keeping the ROW a green space, and would he like to come down and see it? I have NEVER had anybody respond so quickly to an email.
He explained that although Lawndale was outside his area, he would like to come see it, and long story short, he came with his assistant on March 15. It had been raining, but fortunately it stopped just as he arrived. There were several Lawndale residents of the ROW who came as well, including Glen Brackenridge of "Right of Say", who was the knowledgeable expert on the history, and the primary speaker.
Mr. McNeill said he had worked with abandoned corridors, turning them into parks, but not with one that still had a freight train. So safety would be a primary concern. And he did understand about "de facto" parks. But he had an even bigger vision, about connecting to the Redondo right of way as well. We only walked as far as the Artesia bridge, but his assistant went out on the trestle to take pictures.
I will say that when he saw all the pipeline markers, he said Why would anyone want to build here? (referring to Metro's plans)
I also want to say that because it had been so wet, we ended up walking on the tracks, because they were dry. The ROW has some drainage gutters on the side, to drain off water, and they were full. At a subsequent meeting of Lawndale residents, one of them said that if Metro did build something and paved over everything, they would have to provide all the ROW residents with sump pumps.
So, I hope the elected official that are here can keep this open space vision in mind.... And if any of you want to come see the ROW, with its trees, and green space, and where it narrows, and all the pipeline markers, please get in touch. And Mr. McNeill just sent me information on the contact person for the Rivers and Mountain Conservancy, which covers this area.
Holly Osborne.
2 Picture of ROW in Lawndale, looking South
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