Keep public trails open! Attend the hearing on Mountaingate development, June 27th.
The City Council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee (the “PLUM Committee”) has scheduled a Public Hearing on June 27, 2006, at 2 PM, at LA City Hall, 200 North Spring Street, in the Public Works Hearing Room, Room 350.
If you care about the future of public trails in the Santa Monica Mountains, please attend the PLUM Hearing and let your voice be heard. Ask the PLUM Committee to:
• Keep Canyonback Trail along its historic ridgeline alignment on a natural “dirt and gravel†path – outside the proposed private street and sidewalk of the planned private enclave along Canyonback Ridge.
• Preserve Mt. St. Mary’s Trail by requiring the developer to either (1) maintain this historic trail as it passes through the planned Stoney Hill development or (2) prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report addressing ways to mitigate the project’s adverse impact on recreational trail use.
Explanation:
1. Canyonback Trail: The historic Canyonback Trail (also known as the “Kenter Trailâ€), within the dedicated Westridge-Canyon Back Urban Wilderness Park in the Santa Monica Mountains, has been enjoyed by the public for more than 50 years. The Mountaingate Residential Enclave is situated at the bulls-eye of the Wilderness Park, surrounded by protected Open Space land that has been acquired with public funds for the public benefit. Mountaingate residents and developers received a huge special benefit due to the expenditure of public funds to acquire and preserve the surrounding hillside terrain.
Yet Mountaingate developer Castle & Cooke wants to privatize the prized scenic views along Canyonback Ridge by re-routing Canyonback Trail off its historic ridgeline and onto a sidewalk along a proposed private street between seven planned mansions. While the developer seeks to squeeze every drop of profit it can from the publicly-financed ridgeline scenery, trail users and the future residents will be forced to pay the price. Over time, private enclave residents will perceive trail users as violating the sanctity of the “private†community – leading to conflict. Private security forces and gates will be used to inhibit, restrict and eventually prohibit public trail access.
2. Elimination of Mt. St. Mary’s Trail: The public has enjoyed recreational and educational use of the Mt. St. Mary’s Trail since at least the early 1950’s and probably long before then. But that long-standing public use came to an abrupt end in August 2005, when Castle & Cooke gated-off the section of the trail running through its development site. This significant adverse impact on public use of the trail has never been considered in an Environmental Impact Report, in violation of CEQA. The Planning Commission could have rectified this gross distortion of the public planning process by ordering the developer to provide public access or submit a Supplemental EIR for full public comment and analysis. But the Commission chose to ignore the issue and belittle members of the public who expressed their concerns and opposition to the loss of this historic trail. We are asking PLUM to correct that wrong.
More Information:
Canyon Back Alliance letter to PLUM Committee
