Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract 1923

Photo: Futterer, Holyland Exhibition 1923. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photo above is shot from what was the future site of the Holyland Exhibition at the corner of Lake View Ave. and Allesandro Way. Their founder, Futterer, documented neighborhood growth. The Holyland Exhibition will be the subject of a future post.

The clump of houses at the center of the hillside in the Semi-Tropic Tract are on Alvarado.

In the foreground, the mule team is clearing the forest for road building and subdivision. The Glendale (2) Freeway now runs through the part of the photo where the mule teams are working.

The Whitmore Red Car Trolley stop was at the intersection of Allesandro Ave. and Whitmore.

DEVELOPMENT ALERT

SAVE THE DATE! IMPORTANT MEETING

Saturday, January 20, 2007
10AM
Allesandro Elementary School Cafeteria, 2210 Riverside Drive

City Council President Eric Garcetti’s office will sponsor a community meeting to review a developer’s proposal to subdivide the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists’ Garden Lots. Contact: Mitch O’Farrell in CD13: (323) 957-4500.

Why should you care? The Semi-Tropic Spiritualists’ Garden Lots are visible from portions of the Red Car Neighborhood, including Corralitas, Silver Ridge & Lake View. The proposed development will affect views and set precedent for subdividing other large lots in the area, like the Red Car Property.

Like the Red Car Property, the three 1-acre Semi-Tropic Garden Lots were approved for a zone change to increase density during the 1980s building boom. Similarly, the zone change expired unused. Like the Red Car Property and the Menlo Property (the retaining wall on Riverside just north of Fletcher), the Semi-Tropic Lots have a long history of failed development. Currently, the three Semi-Tropic Lots are zoned R-1, or one single family home per lot.

Who were the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists?
In 1905, the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists Association incorporated and purchased the last tract of land in what’s now considered the last hill in Elysian Heights. The City tract still bears their name. In 1905, the area was just outside the City limits and was predominantly coniferous (semi-tropical) forest. Perhaps it was the inspiration for their name.

The Semi-Tropic Spiritualists subdivided the land into more than 175 lots of an average size of 2,500 sq ft, which they sold to their members. The tiny lots surrounded the 3-acre “Garden Lots,” on which they maintained a garden, allowed camping, musical performances and meetings. This followed a pattern of development common to the spiritualist movement in California at the turn of the last century.

Today, the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists’ Tract contains extraordinary native coast live oak (an endangered species) and California black walnut woodland (a threatened plant community).

Like the Red Car Property, the Semi-Tropic Garden Lots are in the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s Rim of the Valley Trail Corridor. Both properties are also within the Silver Lake-Echo Park Equestrian Trail, designated in the Community Plan.

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Development History

Photo: Title Insurance & Trust Co., C.C. Pierce Photography, 1905 Pacific Electric Glendale Line looking north toward Glendale. Corralitas is the hill to the right of the tracks. (Click on photo to enlarge)

The Corralitas Red Car Property was a private right-of-way for the Pacific Electric interurban streetcar. The “Big Red Cars” ran until 1955.

Since 1955, a series of absentee owners have neglected the five lots. For more than 25 years, a series of developers tried and failed to develop the Corralitas Red Car Property. Even when successful in securing a zone change, developers repeatedly failed to build on the site.

The property consists of five large lots on more than 10-acres, approximately one mile in length, zoned R2 (one duplex per lot).

1896 Los Angeles Railway Local Edendale Line extends through a private right-of-way to Ivanhoe Hills, terminus at Fletcher, a dirt road near the Los Angeles River.

1904 Fletcher Drive Red Car Viaduct constructed for the Glendale Line. Pacific Electric officially opened the Glendale Line in 1906; bringing real estate speculation to the areas surrounding rail lines.

1922 “Hunter Terrace” subdivision, formerly the Asa Hunter Estate, advertised for sale. Subdivision brochure advertised lots for sale to the east of the Red Car Property: around Allesandro Elementary School, Corralitas Drive and Elysian Valley (Elysian Gardens subdivision). Brochure touts the proximity to the Red Car as a key selling point.

1924-28 Area streets paved for the first time. 1927: center span of the Fletcher Red Car Viaduct replaced with steel accommodating the paving and lowering of Fletcher Drive. The bridge was now 61’ above the roadbed.

1955 Glendale Line decommissioned, right-of-way removed from public service, property remained in private hands. Red Car tracks removed, but the viaduct remained on the hillside above Riverside and Fletcher Drives.

1959 Fletcher Viaduct and Riverside Drive Viaduct (at Glendale Blvd) torn down, 4 years after the last Red Car Trolley ran on the Glendale Line.

1960 Homes torn down via eminent domain for freeway construction on area streets. The Glendale (2) Freeway soon cut off Corralitas Drive from the community, leaving only one means of vehicle access through Rosebud Ave.  Considerable amount of earth removed from the Red Car Property for freeway construction. Later, the leftover dirt was dumped back onto surrounding large vacant lots, such as the Red Car Property.

1962 Glendale Freeway opens.

1981 Zone change approved (against Fire Dept. recommendations) 2433 Corralitas Drive (southern 2 lots of Red Car Property) from R2 (one duplex) to RD4 (40 Units). City Councilmember Peggy Stevenson did not support community opposition. *

* Zone change granted before adoption of the Silver Lake-Echo Park Community Plan in 1984, so it was not based on any official plan for the area.

1984 Zone change expired; property again zoned R2.

1987 City Council approved incorporation of an equestrian trail into any development of the site in keeping with the Silver Lake-Echo Park Community Plan.

1987 Zone change on 2433 Corralitas Drive for 40 units again approved against Fire Dept. recommendations. City Councilmember Mike Woo did not support community opposition.

1989 Extension for zone change approved against community opposition. Fire Dept. again objected and a provision added: the project limited to 25 units if a secondary access could not be provided.

1990 Zone change expired; property again zoned R2.

1995 City Planning Commission, by unanimous vote, defeats developer’s 40-unit zone change application. Community well organized; now represented and supported by City Councilmember Jackie Goldberg.

1996 Developer, in a large community meeting organized by Goldberg’s office, presented a vague notion that he might want to build 40 houses on the property. Community told him to come back with a specific plan.

1997 At a large community meeting hosted by Goldberg at Allesandro Elementary School, the community voted to back residents’ plan to: form a non-profit organization, Community Resident’s Association for Parks; partner with Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy; apply for ’92 Prop A competitive funds to purchase the Red Car Property; create a passive-use park on the entire site.

1997 Partnership did not receive funding.

1997 Developer purchases the 5 lots for $110,000 (public record).

1998 Developer applies for 12-lot subdivision, with a 7-acre dedication/donation to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. A maintenance fee would be assessed annually on the new lots to pay for park upkeep.

1999 Application tentatively approved by City Planning for 12-lot subdivision, pending approval from grading department.

2000 Developer notifies community that he is putting the property up for sale for $500,000. Subdivision not economically feasible. Subdivision never approved, property remains 5 lots, zoned R2.

2001 Developer purchases the 10-acre Corralitas Red Car property for between $300,000 and $400,000 (public records).

2001 Community Residents’ Association for Parks and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy submits application for Prop A funding. $320,000 application approved by County Supervisor Gloria Molina as a link to the Los Angeles River. SMMC allocates additional funds to the project.

2001 At a meeting hosted by City Councilmember Eric Garcetti, developer notifies community of intent to file for subdivision of the 5 lots of Corralitas Red Car Property into a large number of lots: including 31 single family homes, 21 duplexes and a number of vacant lots to be offered for sale. City Councilmember Garcetti supports overwhelming community opposition to the plan; wants the site as a park.

2001 Mayor James Hahn accepts more than 500 letters and drawings from students at Allesandro Elementary and Rose Scharlin Pre-school. Mayor Hahn joins Garcetti stating, “Keep the Red Car Green!”

2002-03 Connect the Parks…Connecting Communities, a study linking parks, recreational facilities and schools with pedestrian friendly paths between Elysian Park, the Red Car Property and the Los Angeles River; published by Community Residents’ Association for Parks, with a grant from Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, administered by North East Trees.

2003 Developer does not respond to Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy offer for the Red Car Property. In the interim, developer submits application to City Planning for 75 homes, almost a mile of roadways and two miles of retaining walls and one small open space lot consisting of unusable slope.

2003 City Planning advises developer to revise and resubmit plans due to concerns from Departments of Transportation, Engineering, Zoning and Fire.

2003 City Council approves Los Angeles Cultural Historic Landmark status for the Fletcher Red Car Trestle Footings. Application was submitted earlier in the year by City Councilmember Garcetti to the Los Angeles Dept. of Cultural Heritage.

2004 Bureau of Engineering recommends disapproval of  75-home subdivision.

2005 Record rains reveal the extent of the Adelbert Landslide Zone on the north portion of the Red Car Property.

2005 Another developer drops plans for the Red Car Property after just four months on board. The property remains 5 lots zoned R2.

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"Silver Lake's Stonehenge"

Ever wonder what those concrete blocks are on the hillside above the Arco Station at Riverside and Fletcher Drives in Silver Lake? Hope Urban, who grew up in the neighborhood, calls them “Silver Lake’s Stonehenge.”

What are those concrete blocks? Who put them there? What purpose did they serve? While many neighbors think of them as gravestones of failed Red Car Property developers, they’re actually a piece of Los Angeles History.

While the Fletcher Red Car Viaduct no longer exists, its concrete foundations stood silent vigil to the changing attitudes toward public transportation in 20th Century Los Angeles.

The Pacific Electric “Big Red Car” trolleys were a hugely popular means of transportation for Los Angeles, particularly among the neighborhoods on the Edendale and Glendale lines.
In 1904, L.C. Brand & Assoc. constructed the Fletcher Viaduct for Los Angeles & Glendale Electric Railway, then sold the Glendale Line to Pacific Electric in 1906.

The viaduct, or bridge, was huge: 453’6” long, and 40’9” high, of wood trestle construction. In 1927, a 97’ center section of the viaduct was replaced with steel, accommodating the paving of Fletcher Drive. Fletcher was also lowered; the viaduct then stood 61’ above the roadway.

The Pacific Electric Red Car created the horizontal development pattern for Los Angeles – the sprawl we have today. Everywhere a Red Car Line was planned, real estate speculators followed.

Locally, the Glendale and Edendale Lines brought settlement to the Ivanhoe Hills. Our Silver Lake neighborhood reflects the typical development pattern surrounding Red Car Lines. In the early part of the century, as soon as new Red Car lines were planned, real estate speculators bought up the land immediately adjacent to the tracks; carved it into tiny lots; sold the lots to working families to build their own homes.

Riverside Place is one such street where it’s not unusual to find 500 sq. ft. homes on 800 sq. ft. lots. Moving further out from the tracks, homes and lots get larger. The ensuing socio-economic diversity still surrounds the Red Car Property in Silver Lake today. Most neighborhoods adjacent to Red Car Lines were bulldozed for freeway construction. Thus, making our neighborhood unique.

Homes and neighborhoods were built with easy access to the Red Car stops, with stairways and walkways instead of streets. In 1955, the Glendale Line was decommissioned and the tracks removed in favor of freeway construction. Neighbors on Riverside Place voted to give up 10’ of their front yards so the City could pave the street to their homes. Today, many of those homes have no setbacks or driveways.

The Red Car Viaduct Footings are symbolic of changing attitudes toward public transportation in 20th Century Los Angeles. First, Southern Californians embraced the Red Car as an economical, efficient and popular means of public transportation. Mid-century, the Red Cars were forgotten in favor of automobiles and freeways. Late in the 20th Century, Southern Californians rediscovered the Red Car, studying a successful model of public transportation.
The Fletcher Red Car Viaduct Footings are more than just the foundation for a Pacific Electric bridge. The concrete blocks are a foundation for not only Los Angeles, but also the region. Settlers, real estate speculators and population growth followed the Red Car Lines, wherever they went.

In 2003, the Los Angeles City Council confirmed the action of the Cultural Heritage Commission, declaring the Fletcher Red Car Trestle Footings as Historic-Cultural Monument #770.

As one neighbor put it, “It’s an oddly beautiful testament to our community’s past. It’s a quirky kind of landmark that fits Silver Lake.” The Red Car Viaduct Footings bring a unique identity to our neighborhood.