The 100-Acre Partnership at Taylor Yard (100 Acres) is a commitment in the form of a Letter of Intent between the City of Los Angeles (City), the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks), and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) to work cooperatively on the design, development, and operation of the Taylor Yard G1 or Bowtie parcel, the Taylor Yard G2 parcel, and Rio de Los Angeles State Park. This cooperation aims to provide surrounding communities, and the Los Angeles region, a vibrant 100-acre, River-adjacent open space destination that will include passive and active recreational opportunities, large areas of restored natural habitat, River access, and enriching and educational experiences for all ages.
The Bowtie Parcel encompasses approximately 18 acres and the G2 parcel approximately 42 acres. Rio de Los Angeles State Park is 40 acres. Together they could amount to 100 acres of open space.
The agencies involved are the City of Los Angeles, California State Parks, and the MRCA. The roles will be defined once a formal legal agreement is established.
The Letter of Intent is the first step in demonstrating that all three agencies are committed to working together to create 100 acres of open space that are complementary in mission and design. The Letter of Intent formalizes a dialogue that has already been occurring.
A formal legal agreement, likely in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding, that outlines roles and responsibilities. In the meantime, the three organizations will be working together on the 100 acres, fulfilling the intent of the Letter of Intent.
The Paseo del Río Project is the informal name for an early activation project that would provide riverfront public access all along the Bowtie and G2 parcels (Rio de Los Angeles Park is inland and does not have river access), which may include trails, native habitat areas, water quality improvement features, green spaces, trail recreational opportunities, a kayak launch and landing, gathering spaces or outdoor classrooms, restorative elements, and amenities such as parking, access points, restrooms, gates, lighting, and interpretive signage. The elements of this project will be developed from extensive community input, so these features are just suggestions and are just the beginning. The project will include remediation work prior to construction and it’s expected to be open to the public at the end of 2023, early 2024.
Once the agreement is finalized and funding secured, the partners will be reaching out to the community in a variety of ways to elicit input in a robust manner. This will include small meetings, discussions with neighborhood groups and Neighborhood Councils, discussions with nearby schools, discussions with residents in the area, questionnaires, design workshops, and other ways to give community members a variety of ways to give feedback on what they would like to see in the project. Given that holding public meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic is currently restricted, it is important to the partners to identify alternate convening and input methods to allow the community to participate throughout the planning process for the Paseo del RÃo Project.