Park Advisory Board Seeks Relocation Site for Dumpsters
By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
After dozens of community members attended a Pacific Palisades Park Advisory Board special meeting in October 2018 to voice their concern about the relocation of six dumpsters at Palisades Recreation Center from the maintenance yard area to a spot near the tennis courts, the board has been working with the Recreation and Parks Maintenance department to find a less contentious space.
Raul Leon, Principal Grounds Maintenance Supervisor of the Pacific Maintenance division, attended the board’s January 16 meeting to share a presentation of another feasible location for the six dumpsters: an area off Temescal Canyon Road, south of Palisades Charter High School.
“Being in the Palisades, the areas are very, very hard to find,” Leon explained.
The relocation site must be big enough to accommodate the six current dumpsters as well as ample space for the sanitation truck to comfortably move around. The dumpsters are used for several parks around the Palisades in addition to the Rec Center, including the Bluffs and Temescal Park.
In order to assist with finding a space that will work, the Park Advisory Board created a subcommittee, led by Palisadian Rob Ellison, that so far includes about 15 people who are directly affected by the dumpsters, including residents on Alma Real and Frontera drives, and a Pali High coach. Issues of the current location include rodents and noise waking up neighboring children as early as 5:15 a.m.
“One of the things we identified early on is if we’re going to move those dumpsters, where are viable potential options that we could consider?” Ellison explained. “The idea is finding something that is best for the community and that the community can rally behind.”
The Temescal Canyon site would require work, including grading, leveling, asphalt, adding a gate and a windscreen—which would cost about $53,000 and take about three or four months to construct. Leon is also hoping that the new site will house up to eight dumpsters instead of the six that have been stationed at the Rec Center to accommodate an incoming increase in trash due to Potrero Canyon Park.
“What is the standard for the city funding something like this?” Ellison asked. “There’s a ton of rat issues and it’s an aesthetic issue and it’s a noise issue for all the folks next to the maintenance yard. At what point does it rise to the level of an issue that the city will fund the relocation of those dumpsters?”
“That would be a question for what priorities are currently,” Leon explained.
Board members suggested that funding goes through the Los Angeles Parks Foundation, which would be a “fast track to get the [right of entry],” Palisades Recreation Center Director Erich Haas said.
But before fundraising for the proposed location could begin, the board is inviting community members to voice their opinions about the proposed location, with longtime board member Bob Benton explaining that there should be public notice for the next meeting, which is scheduled for April 17.
“It sounds like the overall thing that you’re pitching, Raul, is that you’re saying that right now there’s issues with the bins that were at the park, that we’re dealing with rat issues, with smell issues and with the issue of having a big, big, big, big truck come in when there’s a ton of kids at the biggest park in the Palisades and that’s going to all go away,” Palisadian Jimmy Dunne, who has worked closely with the PAB on the Veterans’ Gardens project, said from the audience. “There is no perfect spot, it’s just what is the best spot for the Palisades community.”
Those who would like more information about the proposed move are encouraged to contact Haas directly at erich.haas@laparks.org.
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