Planners want more of mountains to be protected
By John Loesing
Acorn Staff Writer

The Santa Monica Mountains could receive major new protection if Los Angeles County follows a consultant’s recommendation to put almost the entire range in a zone called a "significant ecological area" or SEA.

The county’s SEA Update Study 2000, prepared by PCR Services Corporation of Irvine, recommends practically all undeveloped land west of the 405 Freeway to the Ventura County line be part of the Santa Monica Mountains SEA.

The designation recognizes that the area has many biological resources currently in need of protection from over-development.

The majority of the land in the proposed 99,430-acre SEA (or about 70,800 acres) falls within unincorporated Los Angeles County. Other chunks are contained inside city boundaries, including 4,625 acres in Calabasas and 1,570 acres in Agoura Hills.

The county doesn’t have planning jurisdiction in the cities, but most municipalities, like Agoura Hills, keep the ecological zones in high regard when making development decisions.

The SEA includes several proposed developments both north and south of the freeway, including Vance Moran’s Live Oak Ranch in rural Agoura and the Warner Financial and Continental Communities projects in unincorporated Calabasas.

"This is a mapping exercise only," consultant Frank Hovore said. "What we hope people do is take thse recommendations and apply them to preservation of the area."

Some factions who attended a study hearing last week at the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center feared the expanded SEA would limit agricultural development in the mountains and hurt recreation services such as equestrian centers and bed and breakfast facilities.

The Recreation and Equestrian Coalition opposes the study.

"The species I’m concerned about is the most important species of all, the human species," said Grant Gerson, owner of Calamigos Ranch in Agoura. Gerson’s wife, Ruth, is the coalition president.

The SEA itself doesn’t dictate land use policy, but when combined with other elements such as housing needs, traffic circulation, noise and safety, it makes up the county’s General Plan, the guiding force behind all new development. The SEA has been updated only once since it came out in 1972.

"Things are disappearing so fast … Where’s the protection and the enforcement?" said Judy Marx, a Lobo Canyon landowner concerned about the dwindling environment.

The study takes a fresh look at the county’s 61 significant ecological areas, including the biologically diverse Santa Monica Mountains. Also covered in the SEA study are the Santa Susana Mountains and Simi Hills to the north.

Less than a third of the Santa Monica Mountains currently has SEA protection, though much of the land already belongs to park agencies and is prohibited from development.

Tom Bates, land-use chairman of the Malibu Board of Realtors, thinks the new SEA is redundant and added that it calls for unnecessary red tape in the development process.

"To me, this is an additional layer of government that may not be needed," Bates said. "Somebody has to pay for it and it may be punitive."

Minor changes to unincorporated property that don’t require a conditional use permit needn’t pay attention to the SEA, said George Malone, a county regional planner.

"I think we want to look at the big picture and not just put barriers in the way of certain types of things," Malone said.

A 1980 update of the General Plan specified 176,174 acres of countywide SEA land. Under the current proposal, 442,983 acres would receive SEA treatment, a 150 percent increase. The expanded coverage area would link existing SEAs such as Malibu Creek State Park, Palo Comado Canyon, Cold Creek and Las Virgenes.

Planners studied county land for more than a year before making their recommendations. The public has until April 30 to submit comments.

For more information, call (213) 974-6417 or e-mail via computer gmalone@planning.co.la.ca.us.