Planning Head Will Report on Management of Ecological Area

Responding to a request from Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, the county’s top planning official said Tuesday he will prepare a report on the county’s 61 Significant Ecological Areas (SEAs), which were designated for protection by the county’s 1980 General Plan.

In asking for the report, Antonovich criticized a lengthy article in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times on neglect of the SEAs, which were chosen for their value as wildlife habitat or as strongholds for threatened plants and animals.

Los Angeles County Planning Director James Hartl agreed to report back to the Board of Supervisors on the county’s management of the SEAs. Pam Holt, a section head with the Department of Regional Planning, said later that the report will probably be submitted in two weeks.

Antonovich attacked the “very one-sided, inaccurate story” on the SEAs, which are mainly in private ownership.

Under questioning from Antonovich, Hartl said 38 of the SEAs are in unincorporated areas, while the other 23 are within city boundaries. Antonovich asked if this meant the latter group of SEAs were not subject to county land-use regulations.

“That’s correct, supervisor,” Hartl said.

Antonovich also said the story should have mentioned that a large development planned for a SEA in Agoura was recently rejected by the county on the advice of a panel that advises the county on protection of the areas.

The article said SEAs have been nibbled by development and are now under enormous pressure from proposed housing and commercial projects, roads and even garbage dumps.

The article reported that supervisors twice declined to fund a proposed study on the condition of the SEAs, and did not follow through on a commitment to seek funds to buy threatened SEAs.

Under questioning by Antonovich, Hartl agreed with him that the General Plan “does not require” the county to buy SEAs.