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August 01, 2007
Libby Motika , Senior Editor
There is no end to movement in Potrero Canyon--no shifting earth this time, but revised plans and new discoveries.
At the Potrero Canyon Citizen Advisory Committee meeting two weeks ago, members learned that the seven lots located on the canyon side of Friends Street can be included in the inventory of lots that will one day be sold, with the proceeds added to the proposed trust fund to be used exclusively to complete the landfill project.
'The L. A. City Attorney was unable to prove that those lots have been dedicated as parkland,' said Committee chairman George Wolfberg. 'And so the approach of the city attorney is to draft the long-awaited Trust Fund Ordinance in a flexible manner to include those Friends lots.' The ordinance would allow certain rim lots to be sold, with the proviso that any liability for geological problems would be the responsibility of the buyers, not the Coastal Commission or the city.
City Engineer Robert Hancock reported that his department has been updating plans for completing the fill, based the most current data. Because of the instability of the Pardee property, located on Alma Real before it turns into Corona del Mar, the city will add a berm on the hillside south of the canyon mouth, which will stabilize that part of the canyon.
A full geological study of the canyon must wait until the grading is complete.
Wolfberg questioned whether the additional build-up at the mouth of the canyon might eliminate that area as a potential site for future parking.
'Any parking would have to be moved west, where the fill ends,' he said, adding that the old Occidental oil-drilling site might be a possibility.
Hancock also reported that it might not be safe to establish a riparian habitat in the canyon, after all. The centerpiece of the restoration project, the proposed 7.2-acre riparian habitat as part of Phase III, is one of the Coastal Commission's primary requirements.
'The city has decided to ask the Coastal Commission to waive the riparian requirement,' said Dave Card, chairman of the Recreation Subcommittee. 'Apparently, it's not safe to have water in that canyon, which is prone to landslides. It may jeopardize the stability of the canyon.' Water from landscape irrigation flows into huge underground pipes that were laid as part of Phase I of the fill project.
The original draft proposal called for the surface runoff to flow into a cistern located under the baseball diamond and used for the riparian area; additional rain runoff within the canyon would flow into an open streambed.
The committee agreed that there must be no standing water in the canyon, but wanted a clear definition of what is riparian.
According to author Milt McAuley ('Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains'), a riparian woodland is distinguished by its proximity to water and is the habitat found along the shore of a stream or a pond. The continuous source of water needed by some of the species may not always be visible on the surface since underground water available at the root zone is also important. Characteristic plants include black walnut, coast live oak, California blackberry, willow, poison oak, scarlet monkey flower and veronica. Malibu Canyon, Topanga Canyon and Santa Ynez Canyon are some examples.
Another good example of a riparian habitat is Los Liones Gateway Park, which was cleaned up and replanted seven years ago and relies on intermittent rain.
The next Potrero Canyon Citizen Advisory Committee is scheduled for Wednesday evening, August 15 at the Palisades Recreation Center.
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