The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday afternoon authorized the sale of five acres of hilltop property in El Sereno, a move council members said they hope will provide Northeast L.A. residents greater access to natural habitat. The entire parcel of roughly 20 acres was purchased for more than $9 million; the five acres are to be sold for $636,500.
The city purchased the 20-acre swath of Highland Park adjacent hilltop land known as Elephant Hill from Monterey Hills Investors, LLC in 2009 for $9.1 million*, the result of lawsuit over the City Council's attempts to block the private developer from building on the land.
*Updated:
A motion passed by the Los Angeles City Council in Nov. of 2009 authorized the city to settle with Monterey Hills Investors LLC. Through the settlement agreement, the city consented to reimbursing the developers $464,068 in damages and the purchase the 20-acre property for appx. $8.5 million.
The motion passed by the City Council on Tuesday authorizes the General Services Dept. to enter negotiations with the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) for the sale of one-quarter of the property.
According an August meeting of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Advisory (SMMC) Committee, the MRCA was granted $636,500 to pay for the purchase and improvement of Elephant Hill.
According to an SMMC staff report, the city has appraised the Elephant Hill property at $495,000. The additional funds would go toward building trails and addressing drainage issues on nearby Pullman Street.
*Updated:
Elva Yanez--a community activist--said that assessed value of the property as open space shouldn't be compared its value as potential housing development--complete with entitlements.
"Comparing the price paid in the settlement compared to amount paid to MRCA is like comparing apples and oranges," Yanez said. "What we're achieving here is priceless."
Among the community members to question the wisdom of the deal, which sees the city flipping a quarter of the property for far less than it's 2009 purchase price, was LA32/El Sereno Neighborhood Council member Scott Johnson.
"Financial responsibility must be paramount on this issue," Johnson said.
He also criticized local Councilman José Huizar for his office's lack of outreach to the community on the impending sale.
"There's been no outreach to the Neighborhood Council on this issue, where the MRCA authority was going to come in and be the oversight agency overseeing that parcel of land," he said.
The majority of community members applauded Tuesday's vote, saying it would provide an urban oasis in "park-poor" Northeast Los Angeles.
Sarah Feldman, Vice President of Programs for the California State Parks Foundation and a Highland Park resident, urged council members to pass the motion prior to the vote.
"As a neighbor to El Sereno I know how desperately needed these improvements are to parked-starved neighborhoods, as so many of our neighborhoods in LA are," Feldman said.
Jeff Chapman, Director of the Audubon Society at Debs Park in Montecito Heights, told the council he looked forward to partnering with MRCA to create educational programs on Elephant Hill.
"In Northeast communities where parks are few and open areas are even fewer, Elephant Hill benefits both community members and wildlife," Chapman said. "This area serves as a vital biological reserve for plants and animals only found in Southern California."
Huizar, said the end of the Elephant Hill saga would "certainly add to the ability of people to go hike, enjoy nature and preserve area's open space."
On another note, I have a feeling if you asked most people in these neighborhoods to describe a park, they wouldn't describe anything resembling the holdings of SMMC. Their holdings aren't parks. Their holdings are vacant lots with rutty dirt trails that they call "habitat". They aren't places to take the family for a picnic. They are dry chaparral hillsides that seem best used for walking dogs and housing coyotes. I suppose in that way NELA is park poor. We just have uncomfortable hillside habitat instead of actual parks.
In addition, for the record, as I stated at the hearing, although I am very proud to have worked for the California State Parks Foundation for over a decade, on this occasion I was representing myself as a resident of Highland Park. One who loves parks and wants to see more of them, particularly in Northeast L.A. We deserve no less.
Regarding opposition, one Council member indicated that his office had only received one call opposing the sale but received numerous calls in support. There were 18 speakers who testified in favor of the sale at the 2 hearings. All state & county electeds representing El Sereno testified in support. In the end, only one speaker opposed the sale at the full Council hearing. Given the history of this 20 year struggle and the lack of park space in El Sereno, how can one realistically put a price tag on the value of this land? How can the sale of Elephant Hill land for an open space park be judged a huge loss? The value of Elephant Hill to those who live in the area & those who will now be able to visit and enjoy the natural habitat is priceless. That is a trade off open space advocates and the community of El Sereno will take many times over in order to protect open space land for generations to come.
Councilmember Huizar has always been transparent and forthright about his involvement and support related to the community’s aspirations for Elephant Hill open/park space. Regarding lack of community outreach, the El Sereno Organizing Committee spent several days on foot, canvassing the community with flyers, particularly around the perimeter abutting Elephant Hill. We made every effort to speak with community members to alert them about the Motion before the committee and City Council. We invited them to both meetings. Perhaps Mr. Scott Johnson was unaware of this community outreach because he doesn’t live in the community of El Sereno and has failed to show up to the LA-32 Neighborhood Council General Board meetings like he’s supposed to. In any case, El Sereno Organizing Committee doesn’t take it lightly that individuals like Mr. Johnson sit around taking pot-shots and spreading untruths and misinformation about folks who are diligently working and organizing in the community on issues of environmental and social justice. Hugo Garcia El Sereno Organizing Committee
I do not doubt that value of this park to El Sereno residents who had fought for many years to protect it from developers. For those who have participated in this fight in the hopes of providing a natural space for the community to enjoy, this is no doubt a victory worth celebrating. That the LLC had the leverage to demand $20M for the property and eventually got $9M, despite it's assessed value being far lower, seems to constitute a huge financial loss for the taxpayer, though. I would be glad to continue a conversation by e-mail, though, if you think there is anything else in the story that needs to be reconsidered.
I've uploaded a trio of documents that should be helpful. One is the 2009 motion that authorizes the settlement with Monterey Hills Investors LLC. Two is Councilman Huizar's motion on this motion recent action. Three is the SMRC's staff report regarding their grant of Prop 84 funds to the MRCA