Development Chased R.P.V. Residents North

About 18 years ago, we moved to Rancho Palos Verdes. We chose this beautiful area because of the environment--air quality, schools, little vehicle traffic, parks, lack of crime and a closeness to the urban centers for work and cultural events. It was a suburbia dream of the best of everything.

In the years that followed, we saw the development of Hesse Park, the construction of the Palos Verdes mall containing the May Co. and Bullocks, the three-story parking garage to support the shopping mall, the removal of overhead cables along Hawthorne Boulevard, the demise of Marineland and the construction of a new post office to accommodate a tremendous growth.

We have also seen three high schools reduced to one. And when it was possible to drive to the post office in a few minutes with just a few traffic lights, now 10 traffic signals make the few minutes into 20.

A few months ago, we left Rancho Palos Verdes, because there just seems to be no end of development. Huge homes stacked together mar Palos Verdes Drive South, with more on the way. In addition, a nine-hole golf course was proposed for construction on the old Marineland site with a 350-room hotel and an additional 50 rooms or suites in smaller buildings, plus a 30,000-square-foot conference center, a 20,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, a market and a cafe and restaurant.

The last R.P.V. election retained the pro-development City Council, and that hastened our decision to move on to a newer Pacific shoreline. When you can’t beat them, get out.

At Los Osos we have one market, not really a supermarket, but adequate, Thrifty drugstore and a variety store. Montana d’Oro, a state park, offers hundreds of acres of open space and trails from the coast to the coastal tree-covered foothills for hikers, horseback riding, plus a beach with barbecue facilities. Our sand dunes are the scenic vistas that are a photographer’s delight. In 15 minutes, we can drive to either Morro Bay or San Luis Obispo, the latter which offers all the amenities of urban life. No parking problems, no traffic, no smog, no crime, and yes, three or four 18-hole golf courses with reasonable fees.

Do we miss R.P.V.? No way. We should have moved several years sooner. Development there has spoiled a peninsula that will never have the charm and beauty it had when we moved there 18 years ago.

ALBERT SCHOENFIELD

Los Osos, Calif.