An Unneeded Parkland Purchase
* Well, well, well, it seems the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy wants to take yet another piece of real estate off the tax rolls and pay for it with our hard-earned tax dollars.
For 17 years, I have lived a quarter mile from the property in question--the overlook south of Mulholland at Topanga Canyon Boulevard. This three-acre parcel has been for sale most of those 17 years. This land has not been developed because of an adverse bedding plane which makes building on it prohibitive.
The Conservancy has conspired to acquire this land with $698,000 of federal funds from the state Transportation Commission to keep it from being developed. In California, 80% of the land is owned by federal, state and local governments leaving the 20% left in private ownership to foot the property tax burden.
Topanga State Park, a 10,000-acre facility, is just a mile or so from this location. Do we really need another piece of land to add to its already burdensome portfolio?
CLAUDIA ELLISON COOK
Topanga Canyon
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