FORMER RESERVOIR COVETED FOR PARK.Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer A former reservoir owned by the Department of Water and Power on three acres of prime real estate is at the center of a battle over development and open space in Woodland Hills. Environmentalists and neighbors have long eyed the Girard Reservoir, drained in the 1980s and now covered in trees and brush, for a park and walking trail. Now, with 37 condos proposed next door, activists have a new sense of urgency for the site, located west of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and north of Mulholland Drive For the motion picture, see . Mulholland Drive is a very well-known road in Los Angeles, California named after engineer William Mulholland. A portion of it is also called Mulholland Highway. . They have begun urging Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. and Councilman Dennis Zine to push the DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection into selling the land to 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 . If the reservoir is designated public open space, the condo developer might have to include a wide buffer buffer, solution that can keep its relative acidity or alkalinity constant, i.e., keep its pH constant, despite the addition of strong acids or strong bases. between the homes and the former reservoir, potentially limiting the size of the project, said Dave Breliant, president of Save Oak Savanna An oak savanna is a type of savanna, or lightly-forested grassland, with oaks as the dominant tree species. California oak savannas
Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. group organized to fight the proposed development. ``If it was the conservancy's property, that reservoir could be a walking trail -- and that's a big benefit for the community,'' Breliant said. ``But our immediate concern is the restrictions open space would require on the adjacent development.'' Earlier this month, Zine introduced a City Council motion asking the DWP to negotiate a sale or lease with the conservancy in order to convert the reservoir into a park. ``We need the DWP to make a decision,'' Zine said. ``If they were using it, I would have no problem, but it's been sitting dormant Latent; inactive; silent. That which is dormant is not used, asserted, or enforced. A dormant partner is a member of a partnership who has a financial interest yet is silent, in that he or she takes no control over the business. there for years.'' But DWP officials are reluctant to sell Girard Reservoir just yet. Last year residential development in the southwest corner of the Valley finally outpaced the city's water system. Because of low water pressure, two dozen homes couldn't get water during peak morning demand hours on some of the hottest days. The utility might need to build a water tank to serve nearby hillside Hillside may refer to: Places
He is the current British Darts Organisation World Champion having won the 2007 World Championship - his 14th attempt at the title. His is also number one in the BDO world rankings. , DWP director of water quality and operations. ``I'm reluctant to get rid of a piece of property in case I might need it,'' he said. To fix the low water pressure and provide a backup source of water for the estimated 95,000 residents in the southwest Valley, the DWP has begun installing new water pipelines and a pressure-regulating station. If those solve the low-pressure problem and hillside homes have water through the summer, the DWP will again consider selling Girard. But if the problem persists, the DWP will need at least one of the three acres for a water tank, though the rest of the property could eventually be sold. Under the law, Adams said, the utility must offer surplus land to city departments first and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy second, so there's little chance the utility will sell to a developer. ``Practically speaking, there's no way we would be able to sell that property to a developer,'' he said. ``It wouldn't happen. With the goals of the city now, it's probably going to be some kind of open space.'' That's good news to the conservancy, which has fended off developers and battled the DWP for the Girard property ever since the utility first declared the land surplus in 1999. Save Oak Savanna members are eager for the DWP and conservancy to make a deal before the DS Ventures development goes through the city approval process. Paul Edelman Ed·el·man , Gerald Maurice Born 1929. American biochemist. He shared a 1972 Nobel Prize for research on the chemical structure and nature of antibodies. , deputy director for natural resources and planning for the conservancy, said the DWP had considered selling the land on the open market several years ago, and the conservancy threatened to take the utility to court. ``It's one of the places we have money ready to go if they're willing to sell it to us,'' said Edelman, who estimates the price could range from $300,000 to $1 million. ``We're willing to work with the DWP to find a way to make it comfortable for them to sell it to us for parkland,'' he said. kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 CAPTION(S): photo, map Photo: (color) Department of Water and Power official Jim Yannotta stands in the former Girard Reservoir in Woodland Hills. City Councilman Dennis Zine and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy want the DWP to sell the former reservoir for open space. Michael Owen
Map: Girard Reservoir Daily News |
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