Keep the Big Wild Open For All!
Help keep public access open for all to the Big Wild in the Santa Monica Mountains near the Sepulveda Pass, ungated and unrestricted, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Big Wild is a 21,000 acre urban wilderness with a continuous network of green space and trails stretching from the San Fernando Valley to the Pacific Ocean. Public access to the Big Wild has been threatened by a gated enclave and wealthy developers who seek to privatize and gate off public access. You can help beat back these threats by testifying in support of public access for all!
The City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on October 20, 2005, at City Hall at 11 a.m. regarding public access to the Big Wild. Please come testify in support of the three points below.
First, the City Planning Department’s Report rejects the proposed “downgrade” of Canyonback Road, which would make it easier to cut off public access to the public street. Downgrading and cutting off the street would be wholly inconsistent with the Community Plan’s goal of protecting the trails, according to the Report. Keep the present street designation!
Second, the section of the Canyonback/Kenter Trail must be protected that passes through the proposed development by developer Castle & Cook. The Advisory Report requires a minimum 10-foot wide public trail along this historic course. This historic public trail has never been restricted to daylight use, and doing so would endanger the public, as Ranger Walt Young from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has recognized. Provide a minimum 10-foot wide public trail!
Third, it is necessary to keep Mt. St. Mary’s Fire Road Trail open for all. The developer Castle & Cooke has recently barred the public from using this trail. The Advisory Report does not adequately protect this Trail. Keep Mt. St. Mary’s Fire Trail open for all!
Please speak up for public access to public trails!
What: Los Angeles City Planning Commission Hearing on Canyonback Road/Trail
Where: Los Angeles City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, Room 1010, Los Angeles, CA
When: October 20, 2005, 11:00 a.m.
