$29 Million OKd for Parkland Agency
Despite intensive lobbying by opponents, Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday released $29 million in voter-approved funds for parkland acquisition and improvement with no new strings attached.
The release of the money will allow the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to buy or improve hundreds of acres of open space, mostly in the mountains dividing the Los Angeles Basin from the San Fernando Valley.
The action also enables the conservancy to pay a final $9-million installment on a loan it took out to buy the former site of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Agoura.
The conservancy had defaulted on the loan last week. Critics said the conservancy could have paid off the debt with other funds but defaulted to pressure the supervisors into quickly releasing $40 million in Proposition A money approved by voters last November.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
