Control and Management of Recreation and Park Lands.

Los Angeles City Charter § 594

in effect

Sec. 594. Control and Management of Recreation and Park Lands. (a) Management and Control. The Department of Recreation and Parks shall operate, manage and control all property now or hereafter owned or controlled by the City for public recreation, including parks, and shall have power in the name of the City to acquire and take by purchase, lease, condemnation, gift, in trust or otherwise, any and all property necessary or convenient for recreation, including park purposes. (b) Acquisition of Property. No real property shall be acquired by the City for recreation sites, including parks, unless first approved by the Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners. (c) Restrictions on Transfer of Dedicated Parks. All lands heretofore or hereafter set apart or dedicated as a public park shall forever remain for the use of the public inviolate; but the board may authorize use of the lands for any park purpose, and for: (1) Easements or rights-of-way for any work, improvement or structure necessary and convenient for giving service to the City or its inhabitants in connection with any public utility owned by the City. Under similar circumstances, similar permission may be given to any private public utility holding a franchise, and limited to the life of the franchise. These easements or rights-of-way shall be subject to regulation by ordinance. (2) Leases to the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the State of California, or the United States for a period not to exceed 50 years, of a site in any public park for the erection and maintenance of public buildings consistent with public park purposes. (3) Taking and disposal of molding sand, or other natural resources under terms as the board may prescribe and in a manner as to work no substantial impairment of public use and enjoyment of the premises. (4) Opening, establishment and maintenance of streets or other public ways in and through the park lands controlled by the board. (d) Transfer to Purposes other than Recreation and Park Purposes. No sites under the management and control of the department shall be devoted or transferred to any other purpose in whole or in part, except in compliance with all of the following: (1) Procedure. Any transfer shall require a resolution of the board, approved by the Council by ordinance, incorporating the prescribed terms and conditions to be observed by the permittee. However, Council approval shall not be required for the granting of leases of property not immediately needed for the purposes of the department for a term not to exceed three years. (2) Restrictions on Transfer. No transfer shall be permitted if it would violate the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, or in any case where the proposed use violates a specific trust or dedication upon which the property was acquired. (3) Requirement of Equivalent Property or Funds. If property to be transferred to another use has been acquired from funds specifically provided for the Department of Recreation and Parks or its predecessors, the department shall be assigned the equivalent in property or funds as a condition of transfer of the property from its control, when required by the board. (e) Remaining Land Unsuitable for Park Use. Where lands forming a portion of an existing public park have been removed from the jurisdiction of the board by reason of their dedication or use for public purposes incompatible with park use, the remaining lands, or any portion thereof, within the park shall not be subject to the provisions of subsection (c) of this section in the event that: (1) the board and Council find and determine that the remaining lands, or specific portion thereof, are unsuitable for further use as a public park; and (2) lands of an area at least equal to the lands found to be unsuitable for further use as a public park are acquired in the same portion of the City and set apart or dedicated as a public park. SECTION HISTORY Amended by: Subsec. (c), Charter Amendment II, approved November 5, 2024, effective January 8, 2025.

Source: City of Los Angeles, Charter and Codes (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/los_angeles/latest/laac/0-0-0-2844Fetched: 10/24/2026