Wetlands

Hooray for state Controller Gray Davis and his taking for state lands some 70 acres of the Playa del Rey wetlands (Metro, March 2). As a 30-year-resident of neighboring Westchester, I know the limit has been reached with development. The Westchester/Playa del Rey area has congestion from the airport, noise and pollution from the San Diego Freeway (the second busiest in the world), an increasing amount of commuters adding more noise and pollution, and now it’s known that the Standard Oil refinery in neighboring El Segundo is one of the worst polluters in the county. Westchester/Playa del Rey has had its share of development. These are tangibles--congestion, pollution, etc. But what about the aesthetics of the natural oasis of the wetlands themselves.

As a boy I played in the wetlands and the fields and bluffs that were Hughes property. And as a man I still make trips to the wetlands to see nature and to be reminded that we, no matter how far we remove ourselves from nature with artificial environments, are dependent upon and indeed subservient to nature. Let the wetlands and the remaining open spaces be left for all to enjoy. This city needs the open spaces. Leaving them undeveloped would be civilized.

Gray Davis has his work cut out for him, especially when The Times article closed with the callous remark from a Summa Corp. official who said the firm would seek to build 2,000 more houses in another area of the wetlands. If the Playa Vista development goes through as planned, residents of the area will be living in their gridlocked cars and making periodic visits to their homes between trips to their work.

MATTHEW HETZ

Los Angeles