Discussion at tonight’s Pacific Palisades Community Council meeting at 7 p.m. in the Palisades Branch Library community room, 861 Alma Real includes the four proposed outdoor Sunday concerts at the Palisades Recreation Center (July 11,18, August 1,8), as well as an update on Potrero Canyon. The public is invited. Kevin Regan, area manager for the L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks, will discuss the status of the city’s 15-year infill and stabilization project in Potrero, including plans for financing riparian habitat restoration in the canyon below the Recreation Center. The last public meeting on the future of Potrero Canyon was held in July, at which time Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, following a PowerPoint presentation showing the massive resculpting job of the canyon, fielded questions from residents on access to the canyon, safety, funding, and the size of the proposed lots if and when they are sold. At the time the Councilwoman pledged to find some money to complete the massive 30-acre project. To date $30 million has been spent, almost all of it on Phase I and II of the three-phase project. The funds were used to shore up the canyon and provide proper drainage. The storm drain system, which will collect runoff from throughout the canyon, was laid in 1988. The following year filling began and is 95 percent complete. The 5 percent that remains involves repairing two landslide areas, one off Friends Street, the other towards the mouth of the canyon off Alma Real. Cost: over $1 million. While the Coastal Commission has approved the repairs, ‘there is no money to do them,’ a representative of Recs and Parks, who preferred not to be identified, told the Palisadian-Post in a phone conversation on Tuesday. One solution to pay for the remainder of the project would be to sell the city-owned lots on the rim of the canyon. However, the Commission ruled that no lots could be sold until after the entire park project is finished. ‘Clearly, the solution would be to have that stipulation removed,’ the representative said. There is also a question of where the funding for the landscaping, Phase III, will come from. Design plans include 7.9 acres of riparian habitat, with the remaining 22 acres to be planted in coastal sage. Scrubbed from the plans last year was a recirculating stream that would have flowed through the canyon. At the July meeting Miscikowski pointed to the high cost ($13 million) of installing the fresh-water stream. ‘It reminded me of Disneyland,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t see that this was part of a natural, rustic canyon.’ She cited the example of Los Liones, another coastal canyon that reflects the seasonal profile of Southern California with wet winters and dry summers, adding that the riparian plant community would be maintained by installing an irrigation system. Phase III alone is estimated to cost ‘anywhere from $7 to $12 million,’ the representative said. ‘And if money were no object it could be completed in two years.’ Asked how much money has been committed to date to complete the project, the representative said ‘None.’ Asked if funds were forthcoming from the Councilwoman’s office, as promised at the public meeting last July, the representative said ‘I haven’t seen any yet.’ Nor was the representative expecting any, ‘given the current lack of discretionary funds in the city’s budget.’ Still in the plans for Potrero is a 12-foot-wide concrete fire road that would run along the DePauw side of the canyon, which would also double as a path from the Recreation Center to the highway. In addition, there are plans for restrooms and parking at the base of the canyon, off PCH. At last July’s meeting with the Councilwoman several residents wondered whether there would be access to the beach from the canyon. ‘The best of all worlds would be a pedestrian bridge over PCH, and so far nobody has said ‘No,’ Miscikowski said. Others worried about the fire hazard in the canyon, particularly from the homeless. ‘The fire department has access to the canyon and agreed to reduce the width of the fire road to 12 feet [from 20 feet],’ said Miscikowski. ‘In addition, the same brush clearance ordinance required citywide will apply to the native habitat.’ As to controlling unwanted occupation in the canyon, Miscikowski recommended that a locked gates open from dawn to dusk be installed and welcomed ideas from residents. Regarding the roads, there were questions concerning future access through the canyon. Would there be only one major access route? At the time it was suggested that smaller foot trails would be determined with community input. Currently, besides the fire road, the canyon is crisscrossed with construction routes and makeshift footpaths. Finally, people wondered what the city would have to do in order to sell the lots. ‘The city must secure permission from the Coastal Commission and certification from Building and Safety that the lots are stable,’ Miscikowski said at last July?s meeting. (Editor’s note: Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski has posted the Recreation and Parks briefing on Potrero Canyon presented July 28, 2003 at the Palisades community meeting on her Web site. Go to http://www.lacity.org/council/cd11/potrero7-28_files/v3_document.htm)
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