Compromise Sought on Mountain Access : Fire Department Still Wants Road

Los Angeles Fire Department officials said Friday that they still want a developer to build a secondary access road for a new housing tract above Tarzana, despite the opposition of Councilman Marvin Braude.

But fire officials said they are willing to compromise, perhaps on a road that would be open only to Fire Department vehicles. Braude announced his opposition Thursday, three days after environmentalists chained themselves to bulldozers to halt the planned half-mile extension of Reseda Boulevard to Mulholland Drive.

Assistant Chief Gerald Johnson said the department is concerned about the potential for fires in the Santa Monica Mountains, but is willing to discuss compromises that would satisfy the concerns of officials and residents of Caballero Canyon, site of the proposed housing tract.

Cindi Miscikowski, an aide to Braude, said several compromises would be considered, from a simple dirt road to a paved road with gates open only to firefighters. The aim, she said, would be granting the Fire Department access without disrupting the atmosphere of the rural canyon. “The idea is not to make it a public road,” she said.

Part of Luxury Tract

Until this week, city officials had required developer Harlan Lee to construct the road as part of a 178-home luxury tract north of Topanga State Park.

But Monday, 10 environmentalists chained themselves to bulldozers before workers could begin grading the extension. The environmentalists, some from the Sierra Club and Earth First!, said the road would speed development in the mountains. The protesters unchained themselves after Braude agreed to meet and discuss their concerns.

On Thursday, after a two-hour meeting with more than 250 environmentalists and residents, Braude reversed an earlier position and said he too opposed the road. On Monday, Braude had called the extension an important access route to Topanga State Park.

Miscikowski said park and city officials would study other potential access routes to the park. Rather than build a road, for example, the developer could be required to fund a footpath, she said.

The city’s Planning Department still has to approve the final plans for the road, but is expected to follow Braude’s lead in the matter.