County board certifies Devil’s Gate plan

Opponents of a five-year plan to remove debris from the Devil’s Gate Dam say they will maintain vigilance in the coming years, after the project was certified Nov. 12 by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

La Cañada city and school officials told the public they were disappointed with the final environmental impact report for the five-year plan, which envisions 400 daily round trips by sediment haulers along portions of Oak Grove Drive and Berkshire Avenue near La Cañada High School.

But the plan passed in a 4-1 vote, with Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky casting the dissenting vote. During the panel’s discussion, Supervisor Mike Antonovich called the plan necessary and said the county’s outreach efforts were innovative and considerate of community concerns.

Edel Vizcarra, Antonovich’s planning and public works deputy, said in an interview Monday the county Department of Public Works went above and beyond its obligations to consider community input.

“It’s been a very, very transparent process, which is why it’s taken three years to get through it,” he said of the EIR process.

Antonovich, who wrote the motion to certify DPW’s plan, documented further mitigations made after the final EIR was complete to address issues raised by several community groups. They include restrictions on the hours, days and seasons of hauling, plans for habitat restoration and providing a 24-hour contact for resident concerns and questions.

La Cañada Unified School Board President Ellen Multari recognized the county’s concessions — including alternate truck routes to avoid morning school drop-off traffic and a commitment to use lower emission trucks made after 2007 — but said more could have been done.

“By the time the project begins, these [trucks] will be 9 years old,” Multari said in an email interview. “We hope to ensure that the most modern standards are applied.

“(And) while the morning traffic patterns should minimize the impact on streets around the high school during drop off, we would like to see these same routes used in the afternoons as well,” she added.

An alternative imagined by a Pasadena working group of engineers and concerned citizens recommended the DPW remove less total debris and consider a longer project life to reduce impacts on wildlife.

Vizcarra said that option would have cost significantly more and would potentially leave homes downstream of Devil’s Gate at risk in the event of more severe weather.

“You obviously have to consider the preservation of recreational opportunities, habitat, truck impacts and all of that, but you also have to look at what the purpose of the facility is and that’s flood control for downstream communities,” he said.

Now that the plan has been certified, DPW must solicit contractors to perform the work. Contracts will be awarded next summer, and the building of access roads into the reservoir will follow in the fall of next year. Vegetation will be cleared in winter in advance of a spring mobilization.