SCC 1/2012 to 3/2012: More coastal land purchases....

State Buying 1709 acres on our Coastline

From the agenda of the State's Coastal Conservancy in January and March of 2012

http://scc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/sccbb/2012/1201/index.htm

http://scc.ca.gov/webmaster/ftp/pdf/sccbb/2012/1203/index.htm

PROPERTIES ARE IN SONOMA, LOS ANGELES, HUMBOLDT, AND MARIN COUNTIES

modify deal involving the 495-acre Bordessa Ranch property on the Estero Americano in western Sonoma County. Coastal Conservancy-1/19/2012

$6,250,000 for engineering, hydrologic analyses, geotechnical assessments, and public access design and further authorization to disburse up to $240,000 to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation for data collection and technical review to support environmental impact analysis and permit applications for the restoration of the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve in Los Angeles County. Coastal Conservancy-1/19/2012

$2.92 million to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority to purchase 5 contiguous undeveloped lots on Las Tunas Beach, Los Angeles County, for the purpose of providing public access to the coast. Coastal Conservancy 3/29/2012

$223,600 to the Northcoast Regional Land Trust to acquire the 20-acre Freshwater Farms Nursery, Humboldt County for the purposes of protecting and restoring habitat and agricultural lands, and providing public access. Coastal Conservancy-1/19/2012

$1,000,000 for the acquisition of agricultural conservation easements over the 1,194-acre Barboni Ranch in Marin County. Coastal Conservancy 3/29/2012

 Barboni Ranch in Marin County--click on map to enlarge

SMMC-MRCA 10/5/2011 to 11/9/2011

State may add 40 acres to Topanga State Park

plus

Big Wind Energy Plans up near California Poppy Preserve

Baldwin Hills connector trail plans revealed

And more, From the recent agendas of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority:

L.A. CITY PORTION OF SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS:

acceptance of conservation easements over portions of 1400 Linda Flora Drive (APNs 4377-002-036 and 037), Bel Air, City of Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Map 1] [Map 2] [Attachment] MRCA 10/5/2011

Bundy Canyon--grant of mitigation funds (I-405 Sepulveda Pass Widening Project, Corps No. SPL-2008-464-PHT) from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for a riparian habitat restoration and creation project in the Bundy Canyon or Ballona Creek watershed. [Staff Report] [Attachment] MRCA 11/9/2011

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MALIBU:

acquisition of 42.83 acres in the Topanga Canyon watershed. [Staff Report] [Map] MRCA 11/9/2011

(above: Eagle Rock in Topanga State Park)

scenic easements and/or open space easements associated with Coastal Development Permit Nos.

5-89-025 (Andrews), Cold canyon

5-90-199 (Morgan Trust), Latigo canyon

5-90-514 (Petrusis), Latigo canyon

5-90-680 (Ross), Latigo canyon

5-88-639 (Cappello), Cold canyon

5-90-1000 (Pankow), Old Topanga canyon, Cold Canyon

5-90-1130 (Shamonki), Topanga canyon

5-90-991 (Revere), Old Topanga canyon

5-90-690 (Miel), Latigo canyon

5-88-501 (Bay), Topanga canyon

5-90-327 (Javid Development), Corral canyon, Topanga lookout

5-89-993 (Azar), Latigo canyon

5-90-566 (Berger), Old Topanga canyon

4-92-189 (Dore) and

5-91-588 (Wallis), Old Topanga canyon, Topanga canyon

incorporated and unincorporated Malibu. [Staff Report] [Map 1] [Map 2] MRCA 10/5/2011

Lechuza Beach Public Access Improvements Project, City of Malibu. [Staff Report] [Attachment ] [Map] MRCA 10/5/2011
[Staff Report] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Attachment 3] [Map] SMMC 10/24/2011 (MEETING CANCELLED)

trail easements associated with Coastal Development Permit Nos.
5-90-1094 (Amezquita--Trancas canyon) and
5-91-829 (Johnson--Topanga canyon),
incorporated and unincorporated Malibu. [Staff Report] [Attachment] [Map] MRCA 11/9/2011

comment letter to City of Malibu on Trancas Highlands Water System and Utility Improvements, and Two New Single Family Residences on Anacapa View Drive, Initial Study No. 07-005, Mitigated Negative Declaration No. 07-005, and Coastal Development Permit Nos. 06-051 and 07-121, Trancas Canyon and Steep Hill Canyon watersheds, City of Malibu. [Comment Letter] [Resolution] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Attachment 3] [Map] SMMC 10/24/2011 (MEETING CANCELLED)

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BALLONA WETLANDS--BALDWIN HILLS:

CEQA phase of the Park to Playa project.Ballona Wetlands to Baldwin Hills [Staff Report] [Map]MRCA 11/9/2011

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PALMDALE--SANTA CLARITA VALLEY:

sale of cellular tower and communication easements at Ritter Ranch, Palmdale. (This item may be heard in closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.1(a). Negotiators: Joseph T. Edmiston and American Tower Corporation. Under Negotiation: price and terms.) [Staff Report] MRCA 11/9/2011

comment letter to Los Angeles County on the Notice of Preparation for the proposed Blue Sky Wind Energy Project in the Sierra Pelona Mountains, unincorporated Los Angeles County. [Attachment] [Map 1] [Map 2] [Map 3] [Map 4] [Map 5] [Resolution] [Map 6] [Comment Letter] SMMC 10/24/2011 (MEETING CANCELLED)

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SIMI HILLS:

sale of cellular tower and communication easements at Sage Ranch, Simi Valley. (This item may be heard in closed session pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.1(a). Negotiators: Joseph T. Edmiston and American Tower Corporation. Under Negotiation: price and terms.) [Staff Report] MRCA 11/9/2011

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EAST L.A. HILLS:

comment letter to City of Los Angeles on Cornfield Arroyo Seco Specific Plan Draft Environmental Impact Report (sch No. 2009031002). [Resolution] [Map 1] [Map 2] [Comment Letter] SMMC 10/24/2011 (MEETING CANCELLED)

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VENTURA COUNTY:

comment letter to the California Public Utilities Commission on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Presidential Substation Project in the Tierra Rejada Valley, sch 2009021059. [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Resolution] [Attachment 3] [Comment Letter] SMMC 10/24/2011 (MEETING CANCELLED)

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Extreme Water Shortage Grips Los Angeles as City Continues Push for More Developments

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090218/ts_nm/us_water_california

2/17/2009

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – With a recent flurry of winter storms doing little to dampen California's latest drought, the nation's biggest public utility voted on Tuesday to impose water rationing in Los Angeles for the first time in nearly two decades.

Under the plan adopted in principle by the governing board of the L.A. Department of Water and Power, homes and businesses would pay a penalty rate -- nearly double normal prices -- for any water they use in excess of a reduced monthly allowance.

The five-member board plans to formally vote on details of the measure next month.

The rationing scheme is expected to take effect in May unless the City Council acts before then to reject it -- a move seen as unlikely since Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for the measure under a water-shortage plan last week.

The only other time such penalty pricing was imposed to force conservation in the nation's second biggest city was a rationing system put into effect for a year starting in March 1991, at the height of California's last statewide drought.

That measure cut citywide water use by about 25 percent, DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo said....

...The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, one of the state's chief sources of fresh surface water, is far below normal, and reservoirs fed by Sierra runoff are badly depleted as well, due to a statewide drought now in its third year.

State water managers have said the current dry spell could prove to be the worst ever in California, owing to rising demands from steady population growth.

Recent heavy rains, and mountain snowfall, have provided a welcome respite from California's driest January on record, but "this latest set of storms did not get us out of the woods by any means," water manager James McDaniel told the DWP board.

Complicating matters are federal court restrictions on water that can be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in northern California, which furnishes much of the state's irrigation and drinking supplies, in order to protect endangered fish species.

As a result, state water managers have cut the amount of delta water they provide to irrigation districts and cities around the state to 15 percent of their usual contracted allotment for the year and may curb those deliveries further.

Another major source of imported water to Southern California, the Colorado River basin, is emerging from an eight-year drought, but its reservoirs remain low.

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http://ballona-news.blogspot.com/2009/02/playa-vista-seeks-300-million-gift-from.html

L.A.'s Biggest Developer Seeks Another 2600 Condominiums on 111 Acres--the Largest Private Unpaved Parcel Left in the City

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L.A. City's Largest Development Wipes Out Before the Appeals Court

Ballona Developers Not Only Lose Their Building Permits and EIR, They Lose Their High Density Zoning

The court repeatedly called the City and developer’s statements “untrue”, describing the project’s environmental analysis as “illusory” and “materially misleading”.

The full 114 page ruling may be read at the Court’s website: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/B189630.DOC

Read the full press release: http://ballona.blogspot.com/2007/09/playa-vista-loses-huge-case-to.html

The Court Ruled in favor of the environmental group plaintiffs on three issues. The following is the issue won by BEEP:

THE FALSE DOWNZONING (ISSUE IS IN BEEP’S CASE) :

The Land Use impact analysis that the court found so troubling was that the project was claimed as a huge downzoning, and therefore a huge down-sizing of impacts to the surrounding communities compared to a project Playa Vista claimed they were legally entitled to build. Playa Vista claimed they had the right to build a project including over 2.5 million square feet of office and retail space that would dump 36,000 cars a day onto local streets. In contrast, Playa Vista touted their proposed condominium and office/retail project as dumping only 24,000 cars a day onto local streets, and that this was a huge concession based on what they were legally allowed. The Court agreed with BEEP that Playa Vista was not allowed to build this threatened project, but only 108,000 square feet of office space on the 111 acre site. The actual zoning of the site allowed a development that would dump 1568 cars a day onto local streets, or a difference between what Playa Vista claimed they were entitled to and the true zoning of 15 to 1. So what Playa Vista and the City claimed was a huge downsizing of their project was in fact a huge increase in Playa Vista’s development rights. The public had a right to know the true project that was being considered by the City Council. The court repeatedly called the City and developer’s statements “untrue”, describing the project’s environmental analysis as “illusory” and “materially misleading”.

The reason Playa Vista claimed they were entitled to such a huge project was based on proposals they had made in the 1990’s. However, the Court agreed with BEEP that Playa Vista had used up those development rights in their 300-plus acre First Phase project approved in 1993 and 1995, , which was marked by controversies over wetlands, endangered species, traffic and a huge taxpayer-subsidized benefit package granted by then-Governor Pete Wilson and then-Mayor Richard Riordan.

Because Playa Vista and the City claimed that the zoning of the land allowed such a huge amount of development, it tainted the review of the legally mandated alternatives to the project, such as a regional park or wetlands restoration, by making them all “infeasible” due to the cost of buying the land.

The Court’s action returns the zoning on the land back to the 108,000 square foot office building that was the true zoning at the beginning of the EIR process.

Rex Frankel, Director of the Ballona Ecosystem Education Project stated, “If Playa Vista wants to build more than that, they will have to honestly admit to the public what they want and why they should be granted such a huge upzoning gift by the City Council, and why they deserve even more corporate welfare than they got in their first phase project. This victory for the people of Los Angeles is a victory for telling the truth on development decisions. The Court didn’t accept the developer’s masquerade about benefits to the public that didn’t actually exist. Playa Vista and the City threatened the public with a monster development that they could never build as a club to beat us into submission and accept a slightly smaller, but still enormous, project. In fact, the Court agreed with us that Playa Vista never had the right to build this monster project.”

Briefs in BEEP's case can be found on their website, http://saveallofballona.org/

Tax deductible donations to BEEP’s legal fund can be mailed to BEEP at P.O. Box 451153, Los Angles, CA 90045