Glendale Buys Canyon From Johnny Carson

The Glendale City Council this week added to its stock of open space by purchasing 36 acres of undeveloped land owned by television talk-show host Johnny Carson in the Verdugo Mountains.

The council on Tuesday voted to accept the deed for Deadhorse Canyon, which is off Greenbriar Drive and has oak and sycamore trees and a stream. Members had voted in December to spend $1.7 million on the property.

City Atty. Scott Howard told the council Tuesday that only minor details still remained in negotiations between Carson and the city. Carson and Robert Smithers, a Dana Point developer, in 1984 proposed a luxurious 17-house subdivision in the canyon. But the council rejected the proposal, citing lack of access and other problems.