The upcoming City Council discussion about the trade of 83 acres of Bluffs Park for 410 acres of Charmlee is a sham. The acreage numbers do not compute. Worse, this looks like nothing more than a payback to a former councilwoman who lives directly below Bluffs Park on Malibu Road for the elections of House and La Monte who coincidently are listed as the instigators of this crazy idea. Overnight camping is looming over said councilwoman, and she has found a way to get rid of it. Come on people, open your eyes and go on Google maps. We cannot let this happen. Joe Edmiston has been dying to get his paws on Charmlee, but overnight camping at Charmlee will be far too dangerous and deadly. Camping, though not what I wanted, is much safer at Bluffs.
The 2010 public draft of Community Fire Safety Action Plans states, “The entire Santa Monica Mountains region is designated by CAL FIRE as a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. The Decker Canyon-Encinal Canyon Planning Unit is within this zone. This area has been affected by large historic and increasingly frequent wildfires. The following wildfires are recorded for the planning unit: Potrero #42 (November 1930), 30,000-acre Malibu-Latigo complex (October 23, 1935), Sequit #54 (July 13, 1940), 16,400- acre Sherwood/Zuma/Newton complex (December 28, 1956), Trancas (September 23, 1978), 25,286-acre Kanan (October 23, 1978), Decker (October 14, 1985), Charmlee (July 1, 1996), Decker (April 21, 1997), Encinal (August 22, 1998), West PCH (April 10, 2002), Decker (November 13, 2002), and Pacific (January 6, 2003).7 The 1978 Kanan fire destroyed nearly 200 homes and there were two fatalities.”
Charmlee Park was also identified as an “asset at risk.” You can read the report yourself at forevergreenforestry.com.
Please attend the City Council meeting on the 14th and stop the madness.
Susan M. Tellem