In 1968 under Mayor Sam Yorty, and again in 1978 under Mayor Tom Bradley, the City of Los Angeles published "Master Plans" for Griffith Park - the largest municipal park in the world, bigger than the City of Beverly Hills. In 2003, a contract to update the 1978 Griffith Park Master Plan was awarded to the Los Angeles firm Melendrez Design Partners.
This new Master Plan was to be completed by the end of 2003. The 2nd draft of the Griffith Park Master Plan as prepared by Melendrez Design Partners (now simply called Melendrez) was delivered to City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, and Councilmember Tom LaBonge, (Council District 4) in October, 2004.
This 2nd Draft of the Griffith Park Master Plan was presented to the public on March 30, 2005.
The 2nd draft of the Master Plan, as well as agenda/minutes of the Master Plan Working Group are available for review online now at:
Los Angeles
Department of Recreation and Parks 1978/2005 Master Plan Webpage
Drafts of the Master Plan chapters written by the Griffith Park Master Working Group are available for review online now at:
Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council PROS Committee
Webpage
Griffith Park Master Plan News - May 12, 2006:
The Griffith Park Master Plan Working Group's meetings had a rocky beginning in July,
2005. After some Working Group and RAP personnel changes, acrimonious exchanges among Group
members and RAP/CD-4 support staff, and discussions of the exact nature of the Group's "mission",
differences were (for the most part) set aside, and the real work began.
It was determined that the Working Group would offer its own version of the Griffith Park Master Plan,
and that this along with the Melendrez version, as well as inputs from other sources would be
provided to a City appointed consultant who would craft a new Griffith Park Master Plan.
To date, the Working Group has completed work on:
1. A new "Vision" chapter advocating that Griffith Park be forever maintained with an Urban
Wilderness Identity. At the April meeting, RAP reported the receipt of over 8,000 petitions
(some duplicates) supporting the concept of defining Griffith Park as an Urban Wilderness.
2. A "Plant and Animal" chapter recommending maintenance, rehabilitation, and restoration of all
existing Natural ecosystems in the Park, including a commitment to continuously preserve native species.
3. A "Human Dimension" chapter that identifies the various Park users (hikers, active sports
participants, picnickers, equestrians, etc.) so that all groups will be treated equitably in
the Master Plan.
4. A new "Built Facilities/Maintenance" chapter that inventories all man-made structures
including playing fields, golf courses, visitors centers, utilities, restaurants, etc. and
establishes guidelines for upgrades and additions. This chapter emphasizes that existing Park
users will not be evicted or displaced. It also recommends forming a permanent Citizen Advisory
Board to review all proposed facility changes, modifications, and additions.
Major work remaining includes chapters on Vehicular/Nonvehicular Park Access and Circulation,
Watershed/Water Management, and Park Management.
Drafts of the Master Plan chapters written by the Griffith Park Master Working Group are available for review online now at:
Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council PROS Committee
Webpage
In addition to the above news, I had a great meeting with Vicki Israel, the new Superintendent of
Griffith Park on March 24th to discuss setting up a database to collect information about
wildlife sightings in Griffith Park.
Access to this kind of information could be very helpful in planning wildlife management. I have
prepared a first pass at an online version of a form that would be available for online/offline use
to collect the data.
Click here to take a look. I will update this page as more news is available.
If you would like to see a slideshow of photos of Griffith Park wildlife
Click here. Photos provided by Chief Park Ranger Albert Torres. Click any picture to start the show.
Griffith Park Master Plan News - October 30, 2005:
The feud between the equestrians and mountain bikers that highlighted the March 30th Griffith Park Master Plan presentation at Friendship Auditorium quickly took a back seat to stronger criticism once the Plan was scrutinized. Both Griffith Park stakeholders and users quickly decided that there was too much emphasis on development, unnecessary change, and "branding" the Park as a Disney-like destination. Confusingly, the Plan makes recommendations in one section, and contradicts them with different recommendations in another. In Section 4, "Natural Environment", the Toyon Canyon Landfill should be restored as "mixed chaparral, oak woodland and oak-walnut woodland". Contradicted in Section 6, "Built Environment", which recommends "development of sports fields for softball, hardball, and soccer." It was obvious that the new 25 Year Griffith Park Master Plan needed a rewrite.
A petition recommending that the Master Plan "establish an Urban Wilderness in Griffith Park protecting its remaining open spaces" is being circulated by a variety of Park stakeholders and neighborhood organizations. To date, several thousand petitions have been collected and forwarded to Recreation and Parks. Here is a link to the petition you can print and mail to Recreation and Parks.: Griffith Park Urban Wilderness Petition
This concept was also adopted by our city Councilman, Tom LaBonge. Here is a link to Councilman LaBonge's statement about the Master Plan: PreserveLA Master Plan Comments and Councilman LaBonge's statement.
Recognizing that the "Draft" Master Plan required extensive revisions, Councilman LaBonge, and the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks appointed a "Griffith Park Master Plan Working Group" to oversee rewriting the Master Plan. I was appointed to be the Franklin Hills Residents Association (FHRA) representative, joining stakeholders from the Sierra Club, Los Feliz Improvement Association, the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council, the Griffith Family Trust, Equestrians, Golfers, and other interested groups. At her first meeting as a member of the Working Group, Clare Darden, representing the Griffith Trust, read an "Open Letter to the Department of Recreation and Parks" from Van Griffith, Col. Griffith's great-grandson, that expressed the Griffith family's "disappointment with the 2004 Griffith Park Master Plan." (a Master Plan that) "wants to turn the park into an amusement park and/or major tourist attraction, neither of which is what it was intended to be." Here is a link to Van Griffith's letter to the Department of Recreation and Parks: Link to Van Griffith's letter. Working Group meetings are held on the first Monday of each month at the Park Ranger Station on Crystal Springs Road, and are open to everyone. Public comments are encouraged at the end of each meeting. Here is a link to the list of members of the Working Group: Working Group Member list. More details about the Master Plan with links to the petition, agendas and minutes of the Working Group meetings, the "Draft" 2005 Master Plan, the 1978 Griffith Park Master Plan, and other related information are also in the list below.
Some Master Plan recommendations have been universally applauded. Enhancing wildlife corridors and acquiring the 138 acre Cahuenga Peak property adjacent to the Hollywood sign providing a wildlife corridor into the Santa Monica Mountains are important features of the Natural Environment Section. Councilman LaBonge, has made this acquisition a top priority, and spearheaded a City application to the State of California for funds on September 30, 2005.
This wildlife corridor is a perfect site for the Franklin Hills Residents Association Wildlife Drinker/Camera Project Installation. Monitoring this portal into Griffith Park will provide unique wildlife information that has never before been collected. (You can still make a tax-deductible contribution to this FHRA project by sending your check made payable to FHRA. Write: "Wildlife Drinker Fund" in the check memo section. Scroll down for a link to the FHRA website.)
In mid-October, I met with Chief Park Ranger Albert Torres and talked about the Wildlife Drinker
Project. Chief Torres has one camera monitoring Park wildlife, and was favorable to the idea of
adding a drinker/camera in the Cahuenga Peak, or some other wildlife corridor.
The Draft of the Griffith Park Master Plan was presented to the public on March 30, 2005.
The Master Plan, as well as agenda/minutes of the Master Plan Working Group are available for review online now at:
Los Angeles
Department of Recreation and Parks 1978/2005 Master Plan Webpage
Griffith Park Master Plan News - April 16, 2005:
Approximately 350 people attended the March 30th presentation of the new 25 year Griffith Park Master Plan.
The presentation group included Councilman Tom LaBonge, representatives from the Los Angeles
Department of Recreation and Parks, and Melendrez Design Partners. Melendrez actually wrote the Draft.
The most vocal groups during the public comments portion of the meeting were equestrian users of the Park, and
a contingent of mountain bikers, who had both turned out in force. The bikers expressed outrage that they
have been excluded from all off-road trails in the Park, while the equestrians argued that mountain bikes were
too dangerous to be allowed on park trails. Members of the Griffith Park Neighborhood Council Parks, River, and Open Space (PROS)
committee particularly criticized the draft's proposal to build ball fields on top of the Toyon landfill.
Advisory committees are now being formed to do in-depth analysis. STAY TUNED!
Griffith Park Master Plan News - March 22, 2005:
The new Griffith Park Master Plan will be presented to the public on March 30, 2005. Here is the official announcement
with information on how to attend this important event:
Dear Griffith Park Friends, and Supporters,
You are invited to attend the next meeting of the Griffith Park
Resource Board, scheduled March 30, 2005, during which the Melendrez
Team will make a presentation on the Draft Griffith Park Master Plan.
GRIFFITH PARK RESOURCE BOARD MEETING
Wednesday, March 30, 2005, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Friendship
Auditorium, 3201 Riverside Drive, just east of Los Feliz Boulevard.
Refreshments will be served at 6:00 p.m.
Please RSVP by Wednesday March 23, 2005, to the Department of
Recreation and Parks, Office of the Superintendent, Griffith-Metro
Region, (213) 485-8744.
Griffith Park Master Plan News - November, 2003: The new Griffith Park Master Plan remains a work in process. The Plan was to be completed by year-end, but Linda Barth from the LA Department of Recreation and Parks recently reported that the estimated completion date is now June, 2004. At an October 6th meeting of the Parks, River, and Open Space Committee of the Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council, Ms. Barth said that collecting and analyzing the data has taken longer than originally expected. She also told us that additional outreach meetings would be held to discuss the Plan. This is good news. Rushing to complete a Master Plan to guide the use of Griffith Park for the next 25 years is counter-productive. The decision to delay the completion date gives Angelenos more opportunities to be more informed about, and provide input to this vital design for this invaluable resource. The first public outreach meetings for the development of the new Griffith Park Master Plan were held in June, 2003. Over 500 people attended the three GP Master Plan Public Outreach Workshops. Represented groups included The Sierra Club, The Friends of the River, The Tree People, The Friends of the Zoo, a contingent of Mountain Bikers, several Neighborhood Councils and Residents' Associations, Park Rangers and Maintenance, and Councilman Tom LaBonge. The majority of attendees agreed there should be no further development in the Park, and that all existing open spaces should be preserved. It is uncertain how much these workshops will influence the final Master Plan, but they enabled many groups to voice their opinions, and facilitated networking among attendees.
Click here for a description of the June, 2003 Workshops and comments.
Please send us your e-mail comments and suggestions.