FACTIONS LINK UP IN BID TO ACQUIRE CANYON LAND.Byline: Amy Collins Daily News Staff Writer City and environmental groups are aligning forces in hopes of buying 400 acres between Elsmere and Placerita canyons to turn into an expansive public park for campers and hikers. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1979 and dedicated to the acquisition of land in the Santa Susana and Santa Monica Mountains and the Simi Hills, north and west of Los Angeles, for preservation as open , the Sierra Club Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by the Scottish-American conservationist John Muir, the Sierra Club and the city of Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, are all emerging as players in the acquisition of Whitney Canyon. ``We've been working with them for this for years and are hoping they can come up with the money this time,'' said Don MacAdams, the project administrator for property owners Whitney Canyon Ranch Canyon Ranch is a brand associated with several properties, communities, resorts, and spas. Properties & communities
The Sierra Club recently started the ball rolling again by urging the city to kick in some cash and push the conservancy to use Proposition A funds for Whitney. ``That would be the key. If the city would be able to put money into it, we would be able to see it happen,'' said Karen Pearson, the founder of the local Sierra Club chapter. Pearson said the property would be a crucial acquisition. The land is home to streams, waterfalls, a Tatavium American Indian American Indian or Native American or Amerindian or indigenous American Any member of the various aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere, with the exception of the Eskimos (Inuit) and the Aleuts. village site and more than 20 species considered candidates for federally endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. status - including the mountain quail, the coastal rosy boa Noun 1. rosy boa - boa of rocky desert of southwestern United States Lichanura trivirgata boa - any of several chiefly tropical constrictors with vestigial hind limbs genus Lichanura, Lichanura - boas of western North America and the black-tailed hare. Located south of the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. , Whitney is sandwiched between the Placerita Canyon state park and Elsmere Canyon, long eyed and opposed as a site for a trash dump. ``It's an important piece of the puzzle,'' Pearson said. The main player in the acquisition likely would be the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Paul Edelman, the Northern Division deputy chief of the conservancy, said Whitney Canyon is one of about 40 properties listed as a high priority for acquiring. About $25 million still is available from 1996 Proposition A funds available for acquisitions, Edelman said. ``Of that money, only $3 million of the $25 million left has to be spent out in that neck of the woods,'' he said. The conservancy recently paid off the debt to Chevron for the Woodlands property west of the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. south of Calgrove Boulevard for $2.5 million, Edelman said. ``We're trying to get the public the most bang for their buck,'' he said. The Santa Clarita City Council and its Parks and Recreation Commission are sending letters to the conservancy and Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San in support of the acquisition. ``The city not only supports it, but is interested in exploring all the options in acquiring the property - and that's pretty strong,'' said Rick Putnam, the city's parks director. The property comes close to existing city boundaries and could be annexed into Santa Clarita, according to MacAdams and Putnam. But Putnam said there will be no talk of dollars and cents issues until the city sees an appraisal of the property's value. MacAdams said the whole 513-acre Whitney Canyon property has been appraised as high as $19 million, but that this sale of 400 acres would be in the ballpark of $6 million or $8 million. ``We're willing to sell it to them at a reasonable price,'' he said. MacAdams said he hopes the conservancy gives the project high priority. ``The time is sort of right now,'' MacAdams said. ``We made the first cut last time, and didn't make it. It's a lot cheaper now and it just makes sense.'' MacAdams said there is no competition in the bidding for the property - they want to sell it to the contingent backed by the Sierra Club. ``We feel, and they feel, that the best use of it is a park,'' he said. CAPTION(S): Map Map: WHITNEY CANYON |
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