SoCalCycling.com

[KarenZ]

Save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course is now on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the-Verdugo-Hills-Golf-Course/251085423613?v=wall&ref=ts
Stop by and become a fan!
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I wanted to alert you about a developer’s plans to build a 229 unit housing development on the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, located at La Tuna Canyon Rd. and Tujunga Canyon Boulevard.

A lot of mountain bikers like to use Hostetter Road adjacent to the La Tuna Canyon Rd. 210 Frwy EASTbound onramp. This is only minutes from the golf course and that kind of large scale development would have an impact on the recreationists who use the area for hiking and biking.

The foothill communities are fighting the development. L.A. City Councilmember Wendy Greuel is supporting preservation of the VHGC and the community is calling for a multi-jurisdictional purchase of the VHGC. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich has pledged $1.7 million towards the purchase.

For more information about the efforts to save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course and its extended property, visit http://www.savethegolfcourse.org

By the way, Canyon Hills, a 200 plus housing development, was approved by LA City in 2005. This development will be located near the La Tuna Canyon Rd. 210 WESTbound onramp. It's too late to stop that enroachment, but we are working hard to prevent further development to the La Tuna Canyon Road corridor. It’s one of the few areas left that isn’t wall to wall stucco/cement/asphalt.


Note: Hostetter Rd. is adjacent to the area in the lower right hand corner of the map.

[KarenZ]

The following commentary provides an update regarding efforts to save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course located La Tuna Canyon Road and Tujunga Canyon Blvd. in Tujunga. The extended property is near La Tuna Canyon Mountainway, a popular mountain biking destination.


COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
Residents, leaders support golf course

Published: Last Updated Wednesday, May 6, 2009 10:12 PM PDT

Excerpt from commentary:

Since forming in 2006, the Verdugo Hills Golf Course Committee has promoted a multi-jurisdictional solution to preserving this important community asset. Because of the property’s location, the goal has been for the city of Los Angeles, the county of Los Angeles, the city of Glendale, and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to share the benefits, as well as varying degrees of the cost in securing this property.

There is no “lump sum” answer to saving the Verdugo Hills Golf Course. Funding must be pieced together utilizing a variety of sources. The primary focus for funding continues to be sources designated for recreational use, environmental improvements, as well as open space acquisition — funds that are restricted for those specific needs.

In 2007, county Supervisor Michael Antonovich pledged $1.7-million in Proposition A funds toward the purchase of the golf course, providing the first piece of the funding puzzle. Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel’s office has identified Quimby fees and is looking into the city’s Golf Surcharge Fund.

A new cycle of Prop K funds will be available in the near future and Greuel’s office is requesting a viability analysis for the golf course. Other methods being weighed include special assessment districts as well as tax credit incentives for the developer.

As we continue to press for the purchase of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course, it is apparent that the public is not part of the negotiation process. We are bystanders, not participants. Although we cannot bring the necessary parties to the table, we can focus our attention on something over which the community has some control: the environmental impact report.

The Los Angeles Planning Department has indicated the draft report will likely be released during the middle of May. This document is prepared by the property owner’s consultants and represents the developer’s perception of how the currently proposed 229 unit housing development would impact our communities.

Once the draft report is available, Greuel, in collaboration with the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, will be scheduling a community meeting so that the public can evaluate the scope and accuracy of the draft document. After all, we are the ones who live, work, and raise our families here. We are the ones who can best evaluate if the draft report addresses our environmental concerns in areas such as transportation and traffic, water resources, air quality, city services, and recreation, to name just a few of the areas that need to be studied for potential negative impacts.

To help learn more about the report process and the California Environmental Quality Act the Sunland-Tujunga Alliance, V.O.I.C.E., and the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council are sponsoring “A Community Guide to CEQA” from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 7. The workshop is conducted by the Planning and Conservation League Foundation and will be at the North Valley Neighborhood City Hall, 7747 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga.

We invite all community members and organizations interested in the preservation of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course to join us in the draft-report review process. Your input is vital in determining the future of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course — not only as the property exists today, but also for what it could become — a recreational gold mine. Last year, Verdugo Hills Golf Course Committee member Richard Toyon created a powerful visualization of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course as a regional park, suggesting a few ways in which the property could be expanded recreationally and enhanced environmentally.

For updates regarding the draft EIR and to learn more about the June 7 CEQA workshop, please visit the savethegolfcourse.org website. While you’re there be sure to check out Toyon’s regional park concept to give you some idea of what we stand to lose.


Full commentary available on the Glendale News-Press website:
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2009/05/08/opinion/community_commentaries/gnp-comment07.txt

[KarenZ]

Map shows location of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course. For those
familiar with the area Hofstetter Road is located just south of
the 210 freeway.

The Draft Environmental Impact Report was released last
month. We have until July 20th to submit our public
comments.

The developer's consultants spent eighteen months
compiling the DEIR. The community has been given 60 days
to evaluate the very large and complex document.
Inconsistencies and misleading data have already been
discovered as we continue to dig our way through the
massive document. Our concern remains that residents
and community members will not have enough time to
adequately address the DEIR. This is a critical stage.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Community Town Hall Meeting
July 7, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
North Valley City Hall
7747 Foothill Blvd., Tujunga, CA

[KarenZ]

The City of LA Planning Department has extended the deadline for public comments regarding the Draft Environmental IMpact Report [DEIR]. We understand that Wendy Greuel, our former city councilwoman, now LA City Controller, helped make this happen. Thank you, Wendy Greuel.

We now have until August 19 to reply. We are asking supporters of the golf course to visit the savethegolfcourse.org website for more information about the DEIR and how they can contribute their views.

It costs money to fund the community effort to preserve the golf course and protect our quality of life here in the foothills. In addition to flyers and newsletters we are also hiring consultants to help us with the DEIR.

Dominick's Italian Restaurant is sponsoring a fundraiser to help the community. The campaign to save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course will receive a portion of your check if you let them know you are there for the fundraiser. The restaurant is open 4pm-9pm.

THURSDAY, JULY 16 FUNDRAISER
Dominick’s
2948 Foothill Blvd
La Crescenta, CA 91214-3411
(818) 248-5680

[KarenZ]

I forgot to mention it was standing room only for the July 7 Town Hall Meeting. We thank all of the people who took the time to join us that evening. It was that the meeting that we learned about the 30 day extension.

We have also learned that the developer will not be having a presentation for the public. We were surprised to learn of this decision. We were under the impression the developer would be putting together information and images to educate the public regarding the proposed development, similar to what they did in January 2008. It is unfortunate that they decided not to do a presentation for the community.

[KarenZ]

The public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Report [DEIR] concluded during the middle of August. Representatives of the developer are now working to respond to the comments/questions raised by the community in their comment letters. We hear the Final EIR [FEIR] could be released in three to six months.

In the meantime, we are working to raise money to cover the expenses of hiring experts for the DEIR, as well as putting aside money for the experts we will need to hire to help us when the FEIR is made public.

Once the FEIR is released we will be working against the clock. There will be a number of hearings by different city agencies and we have to be ready to respond to the Final EIR, finding errors or misstatements in the final document. We also need to have supporters of the VHGC attend the hearings and/or write letters. More on that later.

To give you an idea what's been going on you can read some of the email blasts we've sent out to our mailing list during the last five months.

http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Jun30.htm

http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Jul9.htm

http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Jul14.htm

http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Jul29.htm

http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Aug5.htm

http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Aug18.htm

http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Aug29.htm

For additional information visit the www.savethegolfcourse.org website.

[KarenZ]

Here are a few more email blasts:

October 8: http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Oct8.htm

September 26: http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Sep26.htm

September 28: http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009-4Kids4Ever.htm

October 22: http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2009Oct22.htm


If you would like to sign up for our emailing list use this link:
http://www.gcvoice.org/get-involved/sign_up_page.htm
.

[KarenZ]

Save the VHGC is now on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the-Verdugo-Hills-Golf-Course/251085423613
Stop by and become a fan!

[KarenZ]

The latest eBlast on the VHGC is available online:
http://gcvoice.org/emails/2011Oct19.htm

Yes, community efforts to save the Verdugo Hills Golf Course and its extended property are ongoing. Last May L.A. City Councilmember Paul Krekorian proposed the VHGC for Proposition O funding.

Prop O is a water bond that was passed by the voters of L.A. in 2004, providing funding for projects that enhance water retention in the arid So Cal area that we live.

If approved the funds could be used to acquire the property and implement storm water capture, bio-filtration, and storage - processes that would not impair the golf course. In fact the topography of the golf course provides an ideal location for the capture of water to infiltrate the aquifers in the watershed beneath the golf course.

Some of our recent eBlasts will bring you up to date!

May 20, 2011 - Krekorian Proposes Prop O Funding
http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2011May20.htm

June 16, 2011 - Prop O & the 4th of July - Celebrating the VHGC!
http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2011Jun16.htm

June 30, 2011: Fourth of July & Upcoming Town Hall Meeting
http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2011Jun30.htm

July 21, 2011: Councilmember Krekorian Outlines Plan to Save the Golf Course
http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2011Jul21.htm

September 16, 2011: FORE!
http://www.gcvoice.org/emails/2011Sep16.htm

[KarenZ]

After posting that last message the question that came to mind was: why should cyclists care about a golf course?

There a number of reasons local residents want the property preserved as a golf course and open space. Traffic is one of those reasons.

Anyone who drives, cycles or walks our Verdugo foothills thinks we already have too muich traffic for La Tuna Canyon Road and Tujunga Canyon Blvd, as well as Honolulu Ave.

In 2005 the City of LA approved a 223 unit development called Canyon Hills. The entrance for this project would be near the 210 westbound La Tuna Canyon onramp, about a half mile from the VHGC. We anticpate Canyon Hills having a minimum of 446 cars, likely more. Again, that has already been approved.

IF the proposed 229 unit VHGC project is approved, you can add at least another 458 cars to La Tuna Canyon.

THAT PUTS A MINIMUM OF 904 ADDITIONAL VEHICLES DRIVING ALONG LA TUNA CANYON ROAD AND SURROUNDING STREETS.
A MINIMUM.