Antonovich Urges No Extension for Park Conservancy

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich has urged Gov. George Deukmejian to oppose legislation that would extend the life of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, the state agency that acquires parks and trails in the Santa Monica Mountains and in the foothills surrounding the San Fernando Valley.

In a letter to Deukmejian, Antonovich said the conservancy, which by law is scheduled to go out of business on July 1, 1986, duplicates the role of other county, state and federal park agencies.

Antonovich, chairman of the California Republican Party, also asked the governor to seek amendments to curb the conservancy’s powers in the event “you find that it is necessary to extend the conservancy’s life.”

Eminent-Domain Issue

One of the amendments proposed by Antonovich applies to the National Park Service, which administers the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. The proposal calls for the Park Service to seek state legislative approval before taking land by eminent domain--an idea denounced by the chairman of the conservancy board as “absurd” and “probably unconstitutional.”

The Antonovich letter, dated March 22, comes at a time of apparent strong bipartisan support for extension of the conservancy, which lawmakers created in 1979.

A bill to continue the agency another four years was endorsed March 12 by the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on an 11-1 vote. The bill, co-authored by Assembly members Gray Davis (D-Los Angeles), Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) and Marian W. LaFollette (R-Northridge), is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday before the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

No Deukmejian Response

A similar extension bill was withdrawn by Davis in the fall after Deukmejian threatened to veto it, saying a decision on the agency’s future was premature.

Bob Taylor, a spokesman for the governor, said Friday that Deukmejian had not responded to the Antonovich letter. Taylor also said, “It’s a little early for us to be taking a position on the Davis legislation at this point.”

Antonovich said that if the conservancy is kept alive, it should be extended for two years, until 1988, instead of for four years, as provided in the Davis bill.

He also asked the governor to seek deletion of the conservancy’s right of first refusal on the sale of public property declared surplus by local agencies. The conservancy now could buy such property for the same price the local agency originally paid, thus making it impossible for the county to obtain fair market value in such situations, Antonovich said.

Local Approval Sought

In addition to legislative review of eminent-domain actions by the Park Service, Antonovich recommended an amendment to bar the conservancy from exercising eminent-domain powers without approval by the Board of Supervisors or the city council that has jurisdiction.

The conservancy has never sought to take land by eminent domain and could not without approval by the state Public Works Board, which is made up of appointees of the governor.

The Park Service on one occasion sought to condemn property within the National Recreation Area, but that year-old request is still before the secretary of the Interior.

Davis called the eminent-domain issue “a huge red herring.” He said the conservancy has operated “with a carrot, not with a stick,” buying only from willing sellers. And if the agency did try to condemn property, Davis said, the review powers of the Public Works Board assure that existing “protections against abuse are more than sufficient.”

Davis dismissed the amendment affecting the Park Service as “Sen. Calhoun revisited,” a reference to Sen. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, a leading exponent of states’ rights before the Civil War.

LaFollette and McClintock could not be reached for comment.

Meeting Possible

Anton Calleia, a top aide to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and chairman of the conservancy’s decision-making board, said he and board Vice Chairman Roger Gertmenian, a Deukmejian appointee to the panel, hope to meet with Antonovich soon to discuss his proposals.

Calleia, who called the proposal to review Park Service property condemnations “absurd,” said he believes Antonovich mistakenly views the conservancy as an agency that is “anathema to developers” and that “rides roughshod over people’s property rights.”

Calleia said the relationship between the conservancy and developers has been “a cooperative one if not symbiotic” in that the agency has helped developers meet conditions of building approvals by accepting dedications of open space.

Called ‘Temporary Agency’

Antonovich could not be reached for comment. But Gerri Kariya, one of his aides, said Antonovich knows that developers have “worked with the conservancy to both their advantages.” The real issue is “streamlining and cutting the cost of government,” Kariya said.

“Our view is that the conservancy was set up as a temporary agency” and that other county, state and federal parks agencies are carrying out the same work, she said.

If the conservancy is extended, she argued, its right of first refusal to surplus public property should be eliminated. Given the county’s financial straits, she said, it should be allowed “to get top dollar” in the event it sells property.

Conservancy Expansion

The conservancy was created to help the Park Service set up the National Recreation Area, which encompasses about 150,000 acres of publicly and privately owned land between Griffith Park in Los Angeles and Point Mugu State Park in Ventura County.

The conservancy’s role was later expanded when lawmakers directed it to link up parks and trails in the Rim of the Valley corridor in the foothills that circle the San Fernando Valley.

The agency, which has a budget of about $8 million this year, has bought or helped fund acquisition of about 2,700 acres of parkland. It has also provided grants to local park districts and outdoor groups to develop trails and other recreation projects.

The city councils of Los Angeles and Agoura Hills have gone on record as supporting extension of the agency. Kariya said the Board of Supervisors has not taken an official position.