The State Parks and Recreation Dept. intends to schedule a new hearing in late June on the state’s plan to purchase 1,659 acres of Lower Topanga land now owned by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, a subsidiary of LAACO, Ltd.
This means the scheduled July 14 closure date for the deal will be postponed, according to Warren Westrup, manager of acquisitions for the Parks Dept. All parties involved have been told that that date is “wholly unrealistic,” said Westrup.
Meanwhile, Assemblywoman Fran Pavley and state senator Sheila Kuehl have affirmed their full support for state ownership of the Lower Topanga property. The two joined forces to get an additional $8 million included in Gov. Gray Davis’ revised budget for May. Westrup said the extra budget item was put forward at the governor’s suggestion.
The land is to be purchased for the state by the American Land Conservancy (ALC), a private organization hired by the state to negotiate the deal, at an agreed-upon price of $43 million. But the state budget had designated only $40 million for the land. The extra $8 million, said Westrup, will make up the $3 million shortfall and pay for such things as excise taxes, insurance for the state, and “potential relocation of tenants.”
Relocation is one of the major sticking points in the deal. Forty-nine residents and 10 businesses have been notified they are to be relocated from the property. Most have been there for 30 years or more on month-to-month rentals and are resisting their removal. They are threatening to file a lawsuit that would force the state to grant them long-term leases.
The threat of that suit may be a reason for calling a new meeting to hear the views and air the complaints by those residents and business owners, as well as those in favor of removing them from the property.
But it is not clear how long that may delay the final transaction. “After the meeting we will compile a summary of all that we have heard at the meeting -the pros and cons-and submit it to the Legislature,” said Westrup. That could take a week or two, he said.
In announcing her support for the acquisition and the extra $8 million to complete the transaction, Kuehl said, “The wild beauty of Southern California is an irreplaceable treasure that each generation is responsible to preserve for the next. I’m proud that we are doing our part.”
A question yet to be answered, however, is exactly what use is to be made of the land once it is in state hands. Speculation has ranged from reviving a wetlands preserve on the property to creating an artist colony where buildings now stand. One suggestion current inhabitants are sure to pursue is an extension of their leases to as much as three years while the land-use questions are being settled.