SMMC-MRCA 12/5/2011 to 1/11/2012

L.A. mountain park news...Could a golf course be converted to clean-up urban runoff, rather than be converted into just another housing tract?

From the agendas of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority in December 2011 and January 2012:

VERDUGO MOUNTAINS:

support letter for City of Los Angeles Proposition O application for Verdugo Hills Storm Water Project encompassing the Verdugo Hills Golf Course and Blanchard Creek Flood Control Channel. [Comment Letter] [Resolution] --SMMC 12/5/11

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MALIBU--SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS:

comment letter to Los Angeles County on Notice of Consultation for 1809 Tuna Canyon Road, adjacent to Rocky Ledge open space, unincorporated Topanga Canyon. [Comment Letter] [Map 1] [Map 2] [Resolution] --SMMC 12/5/11

comment letter to City of Malibu on Notice of Proposed Project for new single-family residence at 6050 Murphy Way (Coastal Development Permit No. 11-046), between Escondido and Ramirez canyons. [Comment Letter] [Resolution] [Map 1] [Map 2] --SMMC 12/5/11

Lechuza Beach Public Access Improvements Project, City of Malibu. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Attachment 3] [Attachment 4] [Map ] --SMMC 12/5/11

contract with Penfield & Smith Engineering for the Malibu Road Accessway. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment] --MRCA 1/11/12

acceptance of an offer to dedicate a trail easement associated with Coastal Development Permit No. 5-90-327 (Javid) and all subsequent amendments, City of Malibu. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] --MRCA 1/11/12

access agreement for groundwater monitoring well replacement on the Conservancy Bluffs property, City of Malibu. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map] --SMMC 12/5/11

sale of a slope easement on APN 2166-013-900 and the acceptance of conservation easement on APN 2166-013-014, Woodland Hills. [Staff Report] --MRCA 12/14/11
 [Staff Report] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Attachment 3] [Attachment 4] --MRCA 1/11/12

acceptance of a conservation easement over a portion of APN 2275-025-001 (14545 Mulholland Drive), for wildlife movement purposes, in Sherman Oaks, City of Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment] [Map] --MRCA 12/14/11

resolution opposing commercial signage within 500 feet of MRCA-managed parkland or visible from the Mulholland Scenic Parkway corridor. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment] --MRCA 12/14/11

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SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS--WHITTIER/PUENTE HILLS:

comment letter to the National Park Service on the San Gabriel Watershed and Mountains Draft Special Resource Study and Environmental Assessment. [Comment Letter] [Resolution] [Map] --SMMC 12/5/11

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L.A. RIVER:

grant of Proposition 84 funds to the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation, a non-profit organization, for project planning and design of the Piggyback Yard site, Upper Los Angeles River Watershed. [Staff Report] [Resolution] --SMMC 12/5/11

Los Angeles River and Caballero Creek Confluence Park, Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment] --MRCA 1/11/12

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SANTA CLARITA VALLEY:

acceptance of a donation of four parcels APNs 2813-023-044, 2813-023-045, 2813-023-046, 2813-023-047 totaling 3.96 acres in an unnamed Mint Canyon tributary of the Santa Clara River, unincorporated Los Angeles County. [Map] [Staff Report] [Resolution] --MRCA 12/14/11

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ASSORTED:

comment letter to Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning on Preliminary Draft Significant Ecological Area and Hillside Management Area Conditional Use Permit Ordinance. [Staff Report] --SMMC 12/5/11

comment letter to Bureau of Land Management on Draft South Coast Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement. [Comment Letter] [Resolution] [Map] [Attachment]--SMMC 12/5/11

SMMC-MRCA 7/1/2009 to 8/5/2009

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Negotiating over key Angeles Forest linkage...L.A. Mountains Update for July-August 2009

LAND ACQUISITION HIGHLIGHTS:

400 acres north of Sylmar

18 acres in Arroyo Las Posas in Ventura County

5.6 acres in Agoura Hills, near liberty Canyon

3.9 acres in Carbon Canyon in Malibu

1.2 acres in Escondido Canyon in west Malibu

DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS:

Verdugo Hills Golf Course—conversion to 200 homes

Malibu Canyon, just north of Hughes Research Center

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7/1/2009 MRCA

Proposed purchase of 400 acres at the site of the formerly proposed Elsmere Canyon Landfill, located in Bull Creek and Grapevine canyon watersheds north of Sylmar

Consideration of resolution authorizing submission of Proposition K application to the City of Los Angeles for the acquisition of property in the south western corner of the San Gabriel Mountains. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map]

Consideration of resolution adopting Engineer's Report, confirming the annual levy of maintenance assessment for fiscal year 2009-2010 and directing related actions for the Santa Monica Mountains Open Space Preservation Assessment District No. 1, Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment]

Consideration of resolution adopting Engineer's Report, confirming the annual levy of maintenance assessment for fiscal year 2009-2010 and directing related actions for the Santa Monica Mountains Open Space Preservation Assessment District No. 2, Los Angeles. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment]

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8/5/2009 MRCA

Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of a conservation easement over a portion of APN 2385-022-002, Coldwater Canyon Lane, Studio City. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Map]

Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of an approximately 18-acre mitigation project conservation easement along Arroyo Las Posas on APN 163-0-020-785 and processing fee, Calleguas Creek watershed, Ventura County. [Map] [Map 2] [Map 3] [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment]

Runyan Canyon Park--Consideration of resolution authorizing the extension of two promissory notes in the amounts of $3,000,000 and $1,000,000; and further ratifying the sale and purchase back of APN’s 5571-025-903, 904, 5571-026-903, 904, 5571-027-902, 903, 5571-031-909, 910, 911, 912, 913, and certain related actions. [Staff Report]

Consideration of resolution authorizing entering into a grant agreement with the State Coastal Conservancy and acceptance of the grant funds for the Malibu Road Public Access project. [Staff Report] [Resolution]

5.6 acre Riopharm property, in Agoura Hills--Consideration of resolution authorizing acceptance of open space dedication of an approximately 5.6-acre portion of Lot C, Tract 48312 (APN 2061-015-008), and signing of a covenant and agreement by offsite property owner regarding drainage acceptance from Tract 48312 and release of liability, Liberty Canyon, City of Agoura Hills. [Staff Report] [Resolution] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Map]

Consideration of resolution authorizing the use of Proposition A funds including the acceptance of a Third Supervisorial District 2009 Competitive Natural Land for Trails Grant Program grant for the acquisition of a conservation and trail easement over an approximately 3.9 acre portion of APN 4453-027-004 in Carbon Canyon, unincorporated Malibu. [Map] [Staff Report] [Resolution]

1.2 acres in Excondido Canyon--Consideration of resolution authorizing the use Proposition A funds to acquire APN 4460-014-008 in Escondido Canyon for the Coastal Slope Trail, City of Malibu. [Map] [Staff Report]

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SMMC 7/27/2009:

Consideration of resolution authorizing a comment letter to the City of Los Angeles on Draft Environmental Impact Report for Verdugo Hills Golf Course project, 6433 La Tuna Canyon Road, Tujunga. [Resolution] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Map 1] [Map 2] [Map 3] [Map 4] [Map 5] [Map 6] [Map 7] [Map 8] [Map 9] [Comment Letter]

Consideration of resolution authorizing a comment letter to Los Angeles County on Notice of Consultation for 2919 Malibu Canyon Road (Francisco Ranch Road), Malibu Canyon Significant Ecological Area. [Resolution] [Attachment 1] [Attachment 2] [Attachment 3] [Map] [Comment Letter]

Consideration of resolution authorizing the addition of Coastal Slope Trail – Carbon to Las Flores to the acquisition Workprogram. [Map 1] [Map 2] [Staff Report] [Resolution]



FOR BROKEN MRCA LINKS:

7/1/2009: https://web.archive.org/web/20110115052229/http://www.mrca.ca.gov:80/attachment.asp?agendaid=170

8/5/2009: https://web.archive.org/web/20110115052229/http://www.mrca.ca.gov:80/attachment.asp?agendaid=171

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Nearly 500 Acres in L.A.'s Verdugo Mountains is Opened for Public Use

Preservation group will dedicate the purchase today (May 9th)

The Newly Opened Parkland is shown on the map above as the "Majors Property"

By Kerry Cavanaugh, Staff Writer, L.A. Daily News
5/09/2008

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9212882

With government funding drying up, a local private foundation has gathered donations to buy 485 acres in the Verdugo Mountains for public open space.

The Fond Land Preservation Foundation (http://flpf.org) will dedicate the open space acquisition today, adding another piece to a growing swath of public land in an area eyed for development.

"Most people would not have guessed that it was still possible to purchase 485 acres of open space in the city of Los Angeles," said Bill Eick, a Shadow Hills resident and member of the Fond foundation's board of directors.

The land is in the triangle of hills at Sunland Boulevard, La Tuna Canyon Road and the Foothill Freeway.

Eick said preserving the site will maintain a tenuous wildlife corridor between the Verdugo Mountains and the Angeles National Forest. It's also a link in the Rim of the Valley trail system being considered by the federal government.

The Fond Land Preservation Foundation bought the land for $4 million. The nonprofit foundation was formed in 2004 with a bequest by the Fond family. The group also has raised additional funds from private donations.

Private foundations, such as the Fond group, have been a catalyst for saving land in the Verdugo Mountains, said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel.

"We were particularly excited that this kind of private foundation is not only buying land, but partnering with government agencies to protect the Verdugo Mountains," she said.

With the dedication, some 710 acres in the Sunland-Shadow Hills area will have been preserved. An additional 601-acre swath is being donated to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy by the 221-home Canyon Hills development.

Greuel also has a proposal to buy 224 acres with Proposition K bond funding.

"We will be saving this land in perpetuity for our children and grandchildren," Greuel said.

Eick said the Fond foundation and similar groups can move quickly to buy available open space.

"Private foundations have a place in preserving open spaces, especially in times of budgetary constraints of state and local governments," Eick said.

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Developers donate 175 hillside acres in Glendale

After more than a decade of debate over development in the Verdugo Mountains, three parcels have been given to a conservation group.

By Tami Abdollah, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 5, 2008

Two developers who battled the city of Glendale for more than a decade over hillside development in the Verdugo Mountains have donated 175 acres of land worth millions of dollars to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, officials announced this week.

Developers John Gregg and Sal Gangi, whose plans to put more than 500 homes on the slopes of the Verdugos sparked lawsuits and public outcry, ceded the last of their major hillside properties last month.

"It was the right thing to do," Gangi said. "We analyzed it, and it's kind of a family decision. . . . We haven't bought any hillside property in many years, and I don't think we're ready to do that anymore."

The land includes three separate parcels in the Verdugo Mountains and San Rafael Hills in Glendale. One of the parcels, about 38 acres off Glenoaks Boulevard near Chevy Chase Canyon, had been slated at one time for the development of about 100 homes, according to Laurie Collins, chief staff counsel for the conservation authority.

The other two parcels include 117 acres in the Verdugo Mountains near the city's Brand Park and about 20 acres near the Beaudry Motorway, which is a popular hiking and mountain biking area.

"We hold them on behalf of the public," Collins said. "Now they can be used for public trails and open space and wildlife preservation."

Gregg and Gangi, both longtime Glendale residents, approached City Councilman Frank Quintero about six months ago with the idea of donating the land to the city. He directed them to the conservation authority and helped broker the deal, which closed Dec. 24.

"Once it goes to the conservancy, that's it," Quintero said. "There's no City Council that will be able to reverse the decision to green the space."

The conservation authority is a regional agency, partnered with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, that helps preserve and manage about 60,000 acres of public land throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Glendale has a history of fights over open space preservation. Some of the newly donated land is adjacent to the Verdugo Mountains Open Space Preserve, now owned and preserved by the Santa Monica conservancy. The preserve, formerly known as the Oakmont V, was a proposed development site for 572 luxury homes by Gregg and Gangi in the early 1990s.

After a more than 10-year battle between the developers and environmental groups, which involved several lawsuits, the developers agreed to sell the land as part of the settlement of a lawsuit against the city of Glendale. The city and conservancy paired up to buy the land for $25 million.

The recent donation has been welcomed by many environmentalists.

This is "kind of the last mountain wilderness in the area we live in," said Richard Toyon, president of the Volunteers Organized in Conserving the Environment, a local environmental group. "It seems like every piece of open space we've been able to preserve has been either purchased or fought for, so to be gifted these pieces of property is really something."

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Purchase of North End of Verdugo Mountains in the Works

http://lacity.org/ensnc/sunlandtujunga/ensncsunlandtujunga84046344_07112007.pdf

7-11-07, Sunland-Tujunga neighborhood council voting to approve letter of support for Prop K funding for acquisition of the 227-acre property called Verdugo/La Tuna Canyon (located off La Tuna Canyon Road near its interchange with I-210) for parks and recreation.