Don’t Develop Whittier Hills

I am very concerned about the Murphy Ranch Development Project being proposed for our Whittier Hills. One more time this subject is brought up and one more time the politicians in our community are not listening to the people of Whittier.

Why can’t we keep our beautiful hills undeveloped for the natural wildlife that thrives there. Natural habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate, taking with them many species of wildlife, never to be seen again. I don’t want to see this happen to our hills.

This project will also extend Hadley Street through the hills to Colima. This would not only be disastrous for our hills and wildlife, but for our community as well. The Hadley Street extension will bring massive amounts of traffic through our small community. Hadley would become an alternative route for people traveling on the San Gabriel River (605) and Pomona (60) freeways. The congestion would be more than our small community can handle. This congestion would lead to more traffic on all our streets of Whittier, including Mar Vista.

Let’s not let the politicians fool us into believing this project would bring more business into our community. I don’t believe this will happen. With the easier access to Colima, Whittier shops will have to compete with Puente Hills Mall. Whittier businesses will lose out. We will all lose if this project is developed; Chevron will be the only winner. And keep in mind, this project would be just the beginning of mass housing projects to follow.

Let’s quit fighting among ourselves. Let’s fight together to save our community. We cannot let anyone take away our beautiful hills and magnificent wildlife surrounding our city. It’s too precious a commodity to give up without a fight.

TERI DUNCAN

Whittier