Al Martinez on Topanga Development

Iwish to comment on Al Martinez’s column “A View from the Ridge,” concerning the proposed Montevideo development in Summit Valley, Topanga.

I enjoyed Mr. Martinez’s previous article concerning “Topanga Days” and his obvious affection for the canyon and its life style. The Dec. 9 article on the Montevideo controversy was equally enjoyable and caused the same quiet laughter and sense of recognition as the earlier piece. However, I must object to Mr. Martinez’s broad assumptions concerning the attitudes of the “tract” dwellers and the “bowel” dwellers. The tenor of the article assumes that all of the tract dwellers are lusting after untrammeled development, while all the bowel dwellers are carrying the torch for natural beauty.

The people who live in the Viewridge tract are as varied in their outlook and opinions as are those in any other large group. I live in the Viewridge tract and have for 14 years. When my children were young, I was very active in the Topanga Co-Operative Nursery School. I resented then, as I do now, the elitist attitude of many of the canyon dwellers and the assumption by many of them that their life style is the only one with any integrity.

I feel that we who live in the “tract” have the best of both worlds. Our children have the undeniable advantages of suburban living but are able to live in and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the canyon while being spared some, though certainly not all, of the disadvantages of canyon life.

Not all canyon dwellers are against the Montevideo development. Many are against it. Many of them couldn’t care less. Some of us who live in the tract are for the Montevideo development. Some of us are against it. Some of us couldn’t care less. There will be more newspaper articles published before this issue is finally resolved. I realize that “A View from the Ridge” was a humorous piece. However, to characterize the inhabitants of some 130 households as small-minded, avaricious philistines battling against a canyon population that alone appreciates natural rural serenity is unjust, inaccurate and divisive, and I can only hope that future Times pieces will not serve to perpetuate these stereotypes.

NORMA J. GHINI

Topanga