Neither is it preserving the environment, since, as I mentioned above, the ravines are weed-whacked yearly for fire prevention.

So what IS the issue?

Secondly, the pathway, i.e.Cabora Road, already belongs to the city.

YES, we build dog parks for our aninals and their owners to enjoy and keep clean. Share them with Westchester people?????

Sorry, but I’m unclear to what the point is.

Let’s do this again, if you have a beautiful front yard and the neighbors let their dogs crap on it, what do YOU do; maybe build a fence???

If you find mattresses up there then they were dumped by somebody who didn’t want to make an effort to dispose of it legitmately.

As for the poop.. they are correct. There is poop all over the road. There are also these little plastic bag stations all over the place and so there is no excuse for dog owners not pick up after their dogs.

PV has a couple of really nice dog parks but because there is a man-made creek between them and Cabora, they are not at all accessible to Westchester residents unless they want to get in the car and drive up Lincoln and Jefferson. May PV should add a nice foot bridge feature to their backyard.

The bottom line folks is that there are opportunities for the city to procure open space areas and put in trails that everyone can use. However, our city leaders have not been actively trying to identify these areas much less procure them.

Since the area is not suitable for development, I think Playa Vista should gift the property over to the city and the city in turn should construct a composite dirt path from Centinela to Lincoln. Along the way there could be vantage points for people to sit and view the area.

However, this person has a series of complaints with the council office and that is public record so you should be able to find out from them.

Try contacting jim.kennedy@lacity.org

You make good points about the weed wacking which legitimately questions their claims about protecting native vegetation. Really they’re weeds and they’re being wacked down for fire control.

Also bluff residents have had access to the ravines and Cabora Road since Howard Hughes built the aircraft plant. As I noted in a previous posting, workers from Kentwood used walk to work using trails down through the ravines.

I just got back from a walk, and laid eyes on this fence for the first time. I nearly gagged. I had to temper my reaction because my kids were there… but this is COMPLETELY outrageous. I may have taken it out a little on the visible security guard (and I realize it wasn’t her fault). But I have lived here for many years, and have been all over these hills with my kids. They will NOT take that away. The off-leash issue is one thing (and, for gods sake, is there NOWHERE people and dogs aren’t regulated within an inch of their lives?) but cutting off access to these ravines is simply CRAP.

I just wrote the following letter to Councilman Rosendahl… only the start of what we can do. I want to fight this…. any idea of who the “one complaining resident” is?

Councilman Rosendahl…

I just took my kids & dog for a walk down the bluffs into Carbora Road, and I was incredibly shocked and dismayed at the new fencing put up on the south side of the road. To say I was outraged is kind of an understatement.

I own a bluff house with a gate down into the ravine. Are you, the city, and Playa Vista telling me that my access that I have enjoyed for the four years I’ve owned my bluff house and the 15+ years as a Westchester resident is now prohibited? I and my kids (and dog) have been all over these ravines safely for years. We’ve hiked the trails and played on the hillsides with no issues… ever.

The “safety” issue is questionable, as there really are no safety issues that I can see…. as is the “protection of native plants” issue, since twice a year, the grass and plants are cut off by weed-whacking workers all up and down the ravine, presumably for fire protection.

According to the press release, you had a big hand in this fencing. I am EXTREMELY disappointed and angry about this development. I have been under the impression that Playa Vista has been a reasonably good neighbor, considering how large a development it is. But this is an incredible slap in the face for the neighbors.

Please reconsider this. I ask the fencing be removed, and the status quo be restored.

However, there are a couple of things at play here that I find very disconcerting. Personally I believe the unleashed dog issue was simply a vehicle used to restrict access to the area. The fence is a sledge hammer approach to addressing the problem. How about a 3 foot high fence instead? A fence with spring loaded gates allowing people inside but with a sign on it saying no dogs allowed inside? The solution could simply have been to keep your dog on a leash and cite those who don’t.

So ignoring dogs for now, this is what I am most concerned about:

1. 1. Open space access was once a commodity, is almost non-existent today.
2. 2. There has been no effort by city leaders to identify and procure more open space. The West Bluffs was one of those opportunities and we lost it.
3. 3. Cabora Road is perhaps the last opportunity to create something for public use. The fence will become a precedence for further restrictions.
4. 4. Where new open space exists, public use is almost always restricted. Areas that are set aside, have become preserves. The Butterfly Dunes and the Freshwater marsh come to mind. Will recently acquired Areas A, B, and C suffer the same fate?
5. 5. A kid who has a science project and wants to take pictures of butterflies or a Burrowing Owl would be subject to arrest, cited and fined.

The news release says this is a ” win-win solution for residents and visitors”. No it’s not