The City Council on Wednesday approved a revised plan that will guide the physical transformation of the Los Angeles Zoo and explore the feasibility of expanding transit service to get there.
The council voted 13-0, with council members Paul Krekorian and Curren Price absent, to move forward with the Los Angeles Zoo Vision Plan, which calls for the improvement of zoo facilities and operations.
“What we have before us now is a revised EIR (Environmental Impact Report) for a new alternative that came out of that community engagement process, Alternative 1.5,” said Councilwoman Nithya Raman, whose Ward 4 includes the zoo.
The Los Angeles Zoo has a great sustainability program, where different parts of the facility use creative methods to save and recycle water, energy, and waste.
According to Raman, the revised plan removes a large, multi-story parking garage, which was contemplated in a previous plan. It also restores and protects some of the most “vulnerable” trees, Coast Live Oaks, by leaving an undeveloped hillside in a proposed African exhibit area.
The revised plan commits to taking steps “to reduce vehicle miles traveled by visitors entering the park,” Raman added. Additionally, the revised plan proposes a smaller visitor center and moving it off of a ridge.
The plans will also align with the city’s existing efforts to preserve wildlife crossings and natural areas. Blasting to demolish old infrastructure will be avoided, Raman said.
“I’m really confident that the concerns that are out there right now will be able to be addressed in the next phase as we come back with these concrete designs,” Raman said.
Raman shared a personal anecdote of how his parents “never wanted to be in nature” and how camping was “not part of our cultural tradition.”
“I had a love for the environment, which grew out of my commitment to my local zoo and my local aquarium,” Raman said.
A look at the history of the Los Angeles Zoo
With that story, he emphasized the need to invest in and make the Los Angeles Zoo a state-of-the-art facility where Angelenos can engage with nature and conservation.
“I’m hopeful about this plan and how it can move us in that direction,” Raman said.
Jon Deutsch, president of the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council, wrote a community impact statement for the City Council acknowledging the hard work put into the Los Angeles Zoo Vision Plan.
However, on behalf of her neighborhood council, Deutsch listed a number of concerns with the revised plan, including reducing waste, preserving trees, addressing accessibility and equity, and prioritizing animal welfare.
“We are concerned with the metrics for selecting the most environmentally preferable approach – it is important that the zoo approaches its Vision Plan in the most environmentally sustainable way possible,” it notes in the letter.
Fun places for children on vacation
Deutsch notes that the 45-day comment period is insufficient to adequately “respond” to the 332-page document.
“Alternative 1.5 reflects a significant change in the zoo’s approach to its vision plan,” the letter states.
“While the paper describes this new alternative, it does so in broad and sometimes vague terms, making it difficult and time-consuming to understand the parameters of the alternative and the differences between it and previously discussed alternatives.”
Councilor Bob Blumenfield asked for clarification on whether the plan would affect elephants at the zoo, as the revised plan seeks to expand enclosures.
Denise Verret, director of the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden, told the council that the plan is “entirely rooted in improving the welfare of our animals.”
Verret assured the council that the approval is only a “model for how we would improve the physical campus of the Los Angeles Zoo.”
Raman said the city’s Department of Transportation and Metro is making plans to expand transit services to the zoo. He also echoed Verret’s comments that this first approval will allow flexibility as zoo officials finalize the designs.
Final design and renovation costs are still unknown, but city officials said it would be paid for by public and private funds. A report from the Department of the Zoo indicated that the initial phase of construction is estimated at $650 million.
