LANCissues.org
- the website
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The
Citywide Issues Group
for
citywide and regional issues
facing LA's Neighborhood Councils
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Recent
postings to the LANCissues e-group have referred to the "Elephant
Hill" land development ... but the issue for Neighborhood Councils
citywide is bigger than that. It's really about the NCs' role in
planning LA. No doubt we'll be covering this topic in much more
depth in the near future:
How can NCs become
effective in planning our City?
- Elephant Hill -
by
Bill Murray
Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council
July 28, 2004
It
seems a little explanation is due regarding the "Elephant Hill"
posts, which are actually part of a much bigger issue, namely, "How
can Neighborhood Councils become effective in planning our City?"
There are any number of related issues ... but here's an explanation
of "Elephant Hill" first:
In Northeast LA (the largest part of the "EAST" section of our city)
a coalition has been formed to preserve and protect one of our quickly
disappearing natural resources, open space.
I'm one of the people involved in this effort, which commenced a
few months ago. Basically we recognize that open space is just as
important to us as the coastline might be to those on the westside
(and this issue is not limited to our area).
The coalition is growing quickly as it does outreach, and now includes
people who represent local Neighborhood Councils, nonprofit organizations
and grassroots community efforts.
The group has taken the name "North East LA Open Space Coalition"
(NELAOSC) and it now has the beginnings of a website that lists
the Mission and Goals:
http://www.nelaopenspace.org/
We have beautiful hillside vistas remaining in a few parts of Los
Angeles, and many of them are in Northeast LA. The local flora and
fauna depend on maintaining open space in good condition, and quite
a bit of it is improved so as to be "people friendly" for both active
and passive use.
At this point we are continuing to organize ourselves, and are identifying
the remaining open space throughout the area, so as to be able to
track plans for its use in the future.
One of the first efforts of the North East LA Open Space Coalition
was to support the work of a grassroots group "Save Elephant Hill."
Elephant Hill is a name given to a large track of land in the northern
most section of El Sereno. It's tucked just under the boarder with
South Pasadena.
A
residential neighborhood in El Sereno |
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"Save
Elephant Hill"
Many see housing and commercial development in large tracts
as a threat to open space ... because once it's gone it's
gone forever. They also argue that any development
must conform to the needs of the community and environment.
A portion of Elephant Hill is being developed for some two
dozen upscale homes ... but the developer, who's not a local,
has been working off an Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
from 1993, and seems to be buying a lot of the property
that surrounds this track. It's clear this is just the beginning
...
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Community residents and groups wrote letters in opposition of letting
the development proceed without a more stringent review process,
asking numerous pertinent questions related to the old EIR. Still
others attended local rallies or appeared to testify at City Hall.
The LA City Council took up the issue related to Elephant Hill last
week. All three local Councilpeople, Ed Reyes of CD1, Eric Garcetti
of CD13 and Antonio Villaraigosa from CD14, spoke on behalf of the
community.
Then the Council considered the ramifications of delaying approval
of the project in Closed Session and emerged to later overwhelmingly
vote to allow the project.
Only Councilmembers Reyes and Villaraigosa opposed proceeding (Mr.
Garcetti had to leave on a prearranged trip before the vote could
be taken).
The "Save Elephant Hill" group is disappointed that the developer
has been allowed to get his foot in the door and believe, at a minimum,
that this threatens the remaining Elephant Hill land.
I'm aware that other areas have similar coalitions for open space
(Sunland comes to mind, as well as those involved in the Santa Monica
Mountains). Perhaps we could encourage funding an effort to preserve
and protect open space citywide.
You can rest assured we'll be looking at this in the North East
LA Open Space Coalition, and I invite others to join us.
Beyond that, there are discussions to be had on the issue of our
effectiveness as Neighborhood Councils in general, the degree of
opportunity to express ourselves (and matter) as well as other concerns
that the NCs be given real teeth.
I know the members of the Citywide Issues Group will lead the way,
and there's a LOT of work to be done!
Yours in service,
Bill Murray
Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council
www.ASNC.us
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