YMCA Finally Purchases Pumpkin Patch

The YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles closed escrow last week on the parcel of land at the corner of Sunset and Temescal, finally exercising their option to buy after using the land for 30 years. The 3.95-acre section of the park, known as Simon Meadow, was purchased for use by the Palisades-Malibu YMCA from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for $600,000, made possible in part by a $250,000 donation by Palisadians Bill and Cindy Simon. The purchase was celebrated at an event last Monday, which doubled as the culmination of the YMCA Scarecrow contest. The land, which the Palisades-Malibu YMCA has used for summer camps, its annual pumpkin patch in October and its annual Christmas tree lot in December, will continue to be used for similar purposes. “The YMCA has been trying for more than 30 years to purchase this property through a variety of challenges,” said Carol Pfannkuche, executive director of the Palisades-Malibu YMCA. “We’ve been delayed and now we’ve finally been successful.” The challenges faced by the YMCA in its efforts to purchase the land were primarily from community groups and community members concerned about what would happen to the park if a private entity owned the land. Groups like the Pacific Palisades Residents Association and No Oil, Inc. feared that if the land was sold to the YMCA’or anyone else’there was a possibility that new owners would begin drilling oil, and Temescal Gateway Park would become the next Beverly Hills High School. ‘At some point the matter of what the Y was going to do with the property came into question after many years when they had an option to buy the four [3.95] acres,’ said Nancy Markel, board member of the PPRA and No Oil, Inc. ‘It was very unclear what they were going to do when they purchased it.’ Still, after many years and with many uncertainties as to how the land would be used, the Los Angeles City Council approved Parcel Map 7245, which divided Temescal Canyon Gateway Park into a new 3.95-acre parcel and a 52.83-acre remainder parcel providing for transfer of 3.95 acres of public parkland into Los Angeles Metro YMCA’s private ownership. Less than one year later, though, before the land was actually purchased by the Y, the Coastal Commision granted a new hearing to address substantial issues about resubdividing Temescal property. Another year later, in 2005 the Coastal Commission approved the subdivision of Temescal, this time with conditions that would prevent new owners of the land from building structures or allowing oil drilling for 10 years. Still, the PPRA and No Oil, Inc. persisted in their efforts to protect the entrance of Temescal Canyon State Park from oil drilling activities, particularly because a consortium of petroleum officials had attempted to acquire rights to drill during the mid-1990s. Eventually, on August 21 of this year, covenant papers were recorded that prohibit oil drilling in the canyon. Coastal drilling has been prohibited since the passage of Prop O in 1988, and now, with the newly recorded covenant, Canyon drilling is also prohibited. After the inception of the new covenant, along with the remaining stipulation that no structures be built on the parcel for 10 years, community resistance eased, and the YMCA was able to purchase the land it has been using for its community activities for three decades. ‘It is the intention of the YMCA board of managers to be good stewards of the land,’ Pfannkuche said, ‘and to beautify it and landscape it and protect the plants and the environmentally sensitive habitat area.’