Planning Commissioner’s Term Ends : Harbor-Area Advocate Will Step Down

Los Angeles Planning Commissioner Sam Botwin, a longtime San Pedro resident who has been especially vocal on issues affecting the harbor area, has asked Mayor Tom Bradley not to reappoint him.

Botwin, whose four-year term ends today, has not formally announced his departure and will stay on until Bradley names a replacement.

In an interview Wednesday, Botwin said that at 73 he is tired of fighting traffic on the trip from San Pedro to Van Nuys, where about half the commission’s weekly meetings are held. He said the “bumper-to-bumper” round trip takes 4 1/2 hours.

In addition, Botwin said his workload has become heavier recently, with the commission sometimes holding two meetings, rather than just one, in a week.

“I’m leaving with mixed feelings,” he said. “I hate to leave because I thought I was doing a good job . . . but on the other hand I feel it was too strenuous for me.”

Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores said she is sorry to see Botwin go, but “hopefully we can get somebody who will be an equally strong advocate for the harbor area. . . . Whenever there was anything specific to the port area he took a special interest.”

A spokeswoman for Bradley said the mayor has not come up with a replacement.

In one term on the commission, Botwin has provided an important link--both perceived and real--between Los Angeles government and harbor-area residents, who often say they are treated like stepchildren by city officials. He sometimes was a catalyst, spurring residents to speak out when development affected their communities.

Early in his tenure, Botwin persuaded the five-member Planning Commission to hold regular meetings in San Pedro. The commission had always alternated its Thursday meetings between downtown Los Angeles and Van Nuys. Now, on months that have five Thursdays, the fifth meeting is in San Pedro.

For instance, the commission scheduled discussion and a possible vote on a contested plan to rezone the Port of Los Angeles for today, when members knew they would meet in San Pedro.

Wilmington and San Pedro community leaders say they have appreciated that kind of advocacy, and would like to see Botwin replaced with someone from the harbor area.

According to a recent study, Botwin is one of 12 Los Angeles city commissioners from the 15th Council District, which includes the harbor area, Harbor Gateway and Watts. The study showed eight districts have fewer commissioners but six have more, including two Westside districts that account for 69 commissioners.

“I believe that we haven’t been getting our share of commissioners,” Flores said, “so I’d be really disappointed if we lost this one.” She said she would especially like to have a harbor-area resident serve on the commission while a land-use plan for Wilmington and Harbor City is being considered. The plan is to be completed by the end of the year.

Though Botwin is stepping down from his role as commissioner, he said he is “not dropping out of society” and will remain active on two city traffic advisory panels. In light of his freeway commuting as a planning commissioner, he said, “I feel I can do a lot to straighten out the traffic mess.”

Peter Mendoza, president of the Wilmington Home Owners, said Botwin’s leaving “is going to be a loss unless somebody is appointed who has the insights that Sam has. I think he was good for the Wilmington community. . . . Although he didn’t always go along with us, he was probably our strongest ally.”

For instance, Mendoza said it was at Botwin’s suggestion that Wilmington residents sought a moratorium on apartment development because of concern that the single-family character of their community was being destroyed.

Mendoza also recounted a social gathering where Botwin mentioned that he was surprised Wilmington residents did not come out more strongly against a slaughterhouse proposed for their community. At a subsequent Planning Commission hearing, the residents voiced loud opposition to the plan, and it was defeated.

In addition, Botwin was instrumental in scaling back proposals for condominium development along Western Avenue in San Pedro and cast the swing vote two years ago for a hotel proposed for the Harbor Gateway, said Ann D’Amato, harbor deputy for Flores.

D’Amato said the hotel, at 190th Street and Vermont Avenue, was to complement a growing complex of office buildings at the site, but other commissioners were reluctant to permit it because it involved rezoning land designated for manufacturing.

Despite the accolades from residents and officials, Botwin, who owned a liquor store in San Pedro until he retired seven years ago, would not say he paid special attention to the harbor area.

“I always voted what’s best for the city, whether it affected the valley or San Pedro,” he said. In making planning decisions, he said he tried “to make Los Angeles a better place for my grandchildren to live.”