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January 29 – February 26, 2021 Volume 18, Issue 44
George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon Name Official
Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners approve naming of future Palisades park By Sam Catanzaro
The Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners, including the Palisades’ own Joe Halper, has approved the naming the future Potrero Canyon recreation area as “George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon,” in honor of the late Pacific Palisades Community Council (PPCC) Chair, who died last February of cancer. The land was purchased in 1964 by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks to provide coastal access to and from Palisades Park. Potrero Canyon historically included a natural watercourse through which run-off from the Santa Monica Mountains the Palisades community was carried to the Pacific Ocean. Abnormally high runoff from intense storms in 1978 and 1980 caused extensive erosion, landslides and slippages that led the City of Los Angeles to acquire 22 damaged private properties along the canyon rim. For decades, the planning process dragged on, hampered by lack of funding and at the whim of various bureaucracies for required permits. In particular, the city’s plan to build part of the park near PCH required a permit from Caltrans, which the city was forced to submit three times before approval. Throughout the whole process, Wolfberg dedicated himself to making sure the park would one day open. The park is set to open next year. “Mr. Wolfberg’s commitment to parks and our environment was unmatched. In 2004, Mr. Wolfberg became the Chair of the Potrero Canyon Community Advisory Committee and led the community discussion and analysis of the proposed park. He crafted the Report on the community’s consensus for the design and recommended uses for the new 46 acre, milelong, passive park, including trails through the restored riparian canyon, from the existing Recreation Center to the curb of Pacific Coast
George Wolfberg (third from right) at the 2019 George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon groundbreaking.
Photos: Councilmember Mike Bonin
Highway. He consistently offered advice and guidance to the Bureau of Engineering and the Department of Recreation and Parks in subsequent years to ensure that the park would not only meet the desires and needs of the Palisades community, but would also be a park for all Angelenos for decades to come,” wrote Councilmember Mike Bonin in a letter supporting the recognition. “Getting this park built and open and accessible to all Angelenos was a mission of George’s since the 1980s,” Bonin added. George Sander Wolfberg, born April 22, 1938, was born and lived his entire life in Los Angeles. He was a high school competitive athlete at Los Angeles High and received a B.S. in Political Science from the University of California Los Angeles and a Masters of
George Wolfberg Park, see page 6
Work underway this spring at George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon.