On Monday morning, YMCA Executive Director Carol Pfannkuche and landscape designer David Card shared with about 25 community members the Y’s plans for beautifying Simon Meadow. ’The whole goal is to make the property look more attractive from the street, so that people think it is a nice place to visit,’ Card said as he gestured at the meadow, located in Temescal Gateway Park at the corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Sunset Boulevard. The YMCA purchased the property from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for about $600,000 in October 2007, but is not allowed to build on the site for another six years because of a California Coastal Commission decision and a covenant agreement with the City of Los Angeles. Several years ago, the YMCA began landscaping the property with help from local Boy Scouts and is now planning to make further improvements, Pfannkuche explained. For their Eagle projects, Boy Scouts built raised planter boxes, benches and a patio as well as planted native plants along Sunset. Now, the Y plans to add to the existing landscaping along Sunset and extend it along the perimeter of the property from the Temescal entrance to the Y’s parking lot. The Y will use native plants found in the Santa Monica Mountains such as blue elderberry and toyon trees. The chain-link fence around the property will also be replaced with a 6-ft.-tall redwood fence. ’The fence protects the kids who are playing from chasing their balls into the street, and it keeps the bad guys out,’ said Card, a Pacific Palisades resident who collaborated with the Y on the landscape design. Pfannkuche added that ‘the fence will almost be invisible [to the public] when we put the plants both in front and behind it.’ Gates into the property will be located next to the Y’s parking lot and near the corner of Sunset and Temescal, Card explained. There will also be two gates near the adjacent apartment complex, which will allow those tenants to take a shortcut across the property when activities are not taking place. The Y also intends to remove the existing concrete slab on the corner of Sunset and Temescal, replacing it with a dirt path that will connect with the path into the canyon. At the entrance, the Y will place 3- to-5 ft.-wide boulders in a semicircle in front of a wooden YMCA sign. The wall and sign will look similar to Temescal Gateway Park’s, Card said. Pfannkuche emphasized that the Y will not place banners at the front of the property to advertise upcoming events. In an effort to fight against signage blight, the Pacific Palisades Community Council has asked the Y to remove the banners in the past. ’The [wooden sign] is identifying signage; it is not marketing,’ Pfannkuche said. ‘We have great respect for the beauty of this community.’ The California Coastal Commission has also asked the YMCA to close off the road to its former pool, which is no longer in use, Card said. In addition to chaining off the hillside road at the bottom and top, the Y plans to remove the existing asphalt and replace it with honeysuckle vine. Firefighters have indicated that they would like to be able to use the road if necessary, so the honeysuckle can be driven over easily, Card said. Pfannkuche hopes the Y can begin making these improvements soon. ‘We know the community wants us to get this done quickly,’ she told the Palisadian-Post. Before work can begin, the Y needs L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s support and permits from the City of Los Angeles, Pfannkuche said. Rosendahl wants to know that the community approves of the landscaping plan, so the Y has petitions available on its Web site, www.ymcala.org/palisades, for residents to sign to show their support. The Y is also in the middle of fundraising for the project. It will cost about $120,000 to implement, but Pfannkuche said more money is needed to pay for the upkeep. ’We need community support of all levels at all times,’ she said. ‘We want to make this a long-term improvement.’ Right now, the Y is selling naming rights to the boulders, which will be placed at the front of the property. For $5,000, donors can have their name included on a boulder with other contributors, and for $10,000, donors can have their own boulder. In order to complete the project, Pfannkuche is also relying on volunteerism from the Boy Scouts and Palisades residents. ’We plan to host community planting days,’ Pfannkuche said. ‘There will be opportunities for everybody to come out and participate in this corner more beautiful.’
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