$40 TAX FOR OPEN LAND? MOUNTAINS CONSERVANCY SEEKS JUNE BALLOT FOR PROPERTY OWNERS.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

Some 60,000 property owners could be asked next month to assess themselves up to $40 annually for the next 30 years to raise money for open space and brush clearance - a plan that is meeting with some opposition because of uncertainties over it.

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, acting through its Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, has tentatively scheduled a mail-in election for June, seeking approval of property owners from Ventura to Sunset boulevards and Woodland Hills to Griffith Park.

``There are several large parcels the conservancy would like to purchase for open space, and this is seen as the most effective way to do it,'' said conservancy spokeswoman Dash Stolarz. ``We won't do it unless the people who live within the conservancy boundaries approve it.''

More than 1,300 properties are available for purchase in the area, an engineer's report said.

In addition, the plan calls for using up to $160,000 each year for brush clearance.

Joe Edmiston, executive director of the conservancy, said discussion of the assessment district began some two years ago.

``There was a lot of talk after Proposition 12 passed about how that state money should be used for large projects,'' said Edmiston, referring to the $2.1 billion park bond issue approved by state voters in 2000.

``At the same time, a lot of residents were looking for us to buy smaller properties for open space and this idea was suggested to us,'' he said.

Since then, officials have been developing the details of the plan - which would create two assessment districts, with the 405 Freeway as the dividing line, and seven project areas within those districts.

Edmiston said the plan is to have two people selected from each area to serve on an oversight committee, with approval on the purchase of all properties.

``We want them to sign off on any purchase,'' Edmiston said, adding that he believed the authority given the panel would help counter any criticism that the agency was purchasing unbuildable land.

``I never want to buy unbuildable land,'' Edmiston said. ``But, somehow, people find a way to build on property I never thought could be developed.''

The ongoing San Fernando Valley secession movement was taken into consideration in drafting the proposed districts, with Mulholland Drive being used as a dividing line for the different ``acquisition areas'' where funds would be spent.

``We didn't want to have a situation where residents of a new Valley city felt in competition with Los Angeles,'' Edmiston said.

No date has been set for the election - required under state law for any new taxes or assessments - but conservancy officials hope to hold it in June.

It would be a mail-in election to property owners, with a majority vote of those who return their ballots required for the plan to take effect.

Under state law, the proposal requires the Los Angeles City Council to approve the wording of the measure, but the city cannot prevent the election.

Jon Coupal of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association questioned whether assessment districts should be used to buy land for open space.

``We haven't looked at the specifics of this, but it's not a sidewalk, it's not a street, it's not a sewer hook-up,'' Coupal said. ``Those are the kind of good-faith efforts at apportioning benefits to a property.

``I don't know how you do that with open space. There could be a threshold legal issue on whether this is a proper use of a benefit assessment district.''

If property owners approve the districts, bonds totaling $25 million would be issued and repaid over 30 years. Stolarz said it has been estimated that the conservancy would raise $2 million a year from the assessment.

In addition to the $40 levy on houses, a fee of $14.40 would be charged for each unit in an apartment complex under 20 units. Larger apartment buildings would have a reduced rate that was not specified.

Business property would be charged $40 for each 0.35 of an acre.

Betsey Landis of the California Native Plant Society said she is concerned about how the program would be managed.

``On the face of it, this sounds wonderful,'' Landis said. ``They say they will use this to stop all the fighting we have over property to be bought and use it for brush clearance.

``But, I'm not sure the authority has the ability to manage this. And, there are all these questions we have that they won't give us answers to, like when it will take effect. It just seems like they're rushing it through.''

Landis said she also has questions regarding the creation of the oversight committee, as well as how funds would be audited.

Gordon Murley of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization and the San Fernando Valley Federation said he has not yet been told of the plans.

``We've heard rumors, but nothing specific has come to us and you'd think we would know since our homes are part of the conservancy land,'' Murley said. ``It always makes you wonder when it appears they are trying to sneak things through.''

Stolarz said that is not the case.

``One of the reasons we want to hold the election in late June is to give us a chance to meet with homeowners and different organizations,'' Stolarz said.

``We are going around and meeting with everyone we can and have scheduled meetings up through June to get this out. We want to see this succeed and know if people have questions, it will make it more difficult.''

Officials said 13 organizations, representing homeowners and businesses, have endorsed the plan, including the Beachwood Canyon Neighborhood Association, Protect Our Canyons, the Cahuenga Pass Property Owners Association and the Audubon Society.

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Map:

PROPOSED ASSESSMENT AREA

SOURCE: Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority

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