TOPANGA : Naming New Park Is Controversial Topic

A month and a half after plans for a luxury home development in Topanga were scrapped in favor of preserving the wilderness, acreage once slated for Canyon Oaks Estates is the subject of a new controversy: what to call it.

A proposal to name the newly purchased parkland after Los Angeles County Supervisor Edmund D. Edelman, who brokered a last-minute deal to preserve the 662 acres, snagged last week after ever-vigilant residents expressed concern over the naming process.

Some worried that christening the property the Edmund D. Edelman Wilderness Park as proposed could complicate future efforts to add the land to the state or national park systems, in which land usually is not named for living people.

Others said naming the hilly land after a politician would ignore the Native American heritage of the area.

“Place names often last for a long time,” said Chester King, an archeologist and Topanga resident. “The old Indian names, such as Topanga, give a sense of heritage, that people have been here a long time. The question is: Do we want to honor politicians or do we want to reflect other values?”

The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which closed escrow on the property early this month, agreed to reconsider at its Monday meeting a name for only the 257 acres once set aside for the Canyon Oaks homes and golf course.

Suggestions will be accepted from Topanga residents and other concerned citizens, and a name for the rest of the tract will be considered later.

Conservancy Executive Director Joseph T. Edmiston, who proposed naming the land for Edelman, said he hopes the board of directors will name the 257 acres for the supervisor.

Edelman, who plans to retire at the end of this term, brought the developer and the conservancy to a late-night bargaining session hours before a hearing on whether to approve the Canyon Oaks development project. In the supervisor’s hearing room the next day, gleeful residents cheered the surprise announcement that the land would be sold to the parks agency.

“I was disturbed that some of the members of the community didn’t seem to recognize the contribution Edelman made,” Edmiston said. “Certainly, he has warranted the honor as much as, if not more than, other persons who have had parks named for them.”

Politicians with fewer environmental credentials than Edelman’s have been honored with namesake parks.

Edelman’s former colleague, Pete Schabarum, had a regional park in Rowland Heights named for him despite the ex-supervisor’s steadfast support of developers and criticism of environmental groups.

Other parks have been named for former Gov. George Deukmejian and President Ronald Reagan, both of whom tried to eliminate many park programs.

Edelman, said spokesman Joel Bellman, would prefer to see the namesake issue settled with little fanfare.

“The sideshow over whether it should or shouldn’t be named for him is unfortunate,” Bellman said. “It detracts from the main issue, which was saving that area from development.”