Canyon Near Ladyface to Be Filled

A plan to fill a canyon beneath a landmark Agoura mountain with 8,000 truckloads of dirt was approved Thursday by Los Angeles County over the objections of Agoura Hills officials.

The Board of Supervisors voted 3 to 0 to authorize the filling of a quarter-mile-long canyon next to Ladyface Mountain. The rugged Kanan Road site, about half a mile south of the Ventura Freeway, is just outside the Agoura Hills city limit.

A Thousand Oaks contractor proposed the dumping and argued that it would keep builders from clogging the county’s nearby Calabasas dump with their dirt.

Supervisors rejected the city’s complaints that the dumping will destroy a valuable scenic resource and create traffic safety problems on Agoura Hills’ busiest street.

Prelude to Construction

City officials also argued that the canyon filling may be the prelude to a high-density construction project at their boundaries over which they will have no control.

“This is an important area to our community,” Agoura Hills Mayor Vicky Leary told the board. “I sometimes feel we’re going to fill every canyon at will and have nothing but manufactured terrain.”

Councilman Jack W. Koenig told supervisors that the planned 18-month hauling period will subject motorists to extra dangers along Kanan Road, which he called one of the county’s most dangerous routes.

20 Requests to Dump

Paul D. Burns, president of Pacific Aggregates Corp. of Thousand Oaks, which will supervise the dumping, testified that 20 builders from the rapidly growing Agoura Hills area have asked to dump in the canyon. He said the canyon will be filled to a 30-foot depth with about 120,000 cubic yards of rock and soil.

Burns said the canyon will be left with a natural contoured look and will be planted with six young oaks and native grasses when the dumping is completed.

“If anything, that canyon will look better,” Burns told supervisors.

He also said a special lane for the trucks, allowing them to slow without interfering with other traffic, will be built along Kanan Road near the dumping site.