The Trancas shopping center expansion raises many concerns about traffic flow and parking, but I would like to focus the attention of the City Planning Commissioners on water. More restaurants and more stores mean more water use. Where will more water come from? How will it be delivered? Who will pay for it? How will the shopping center’s additional water use impact residents’ water needs and the need for fire protection?
I’ve investigated these questions and learned that the Trancas shopping center expansion cannot take place unless the county enlarges pipes on PCH. And that’s just what the county plans to do with a Waterworks project scheduled to begin this September. Yes, they plan to dig up water pipes on PCH during the height of fire season!
Even as we’re all asked to conserve, Waterworks District 29 is building a new pressure regulating station to benefit a shopping center. So the shopping center developer must be paying for this, right? Wrong! According to Waterworks engineers the project is being paid for by rate payers (translation: you and me).
Wouldn’t neighboring residents also benefit? No! The Waterworks engineers say only Trancas shopping center gets more water. Service will not improve for neighboring residents and may, in fact, become worse than it is now. In short, our money is being used to degrade service to our homes and dry up our fire hydrants so real estate speculators get a return on their investment. Some people say that’s okay because we get a couple of new restaurants in the bargain.
Where will the new water pipes go? Waterworks will dig trenches and pour concrete in the Trancas Creek watershed, which is an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA). Can they do that? Waterworks says it’s a utility and doesn’t have to follow silly environmental rules.
Surely, city planners know about this, right? Wrong again! City planners say water is not within the scope of their responsibility. Water is an L.A. County issue. City Planning Commissioners should vote “no” on expansion of Trancas shopping center until questions about water supply and fire protection can be answered.
Cindy Vandor