County Aids Purchase of Parkland : Funding: Supervisors pitch in $300,000 to help conservancy obtain a 32-acre Lecohabe property.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors transferred $300,000 of park funds to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy on Tuesday, clearing the way for the conservancy to buy 32 acres of land above Studio City.

The board, acting as the county’s Regional Park and Open Space District, used funds from Proposition A, a county voter approved initiative that set aside money for parkland in 1992.

The land, known as the Lecohabe property, is next to Fryman Canyon, just north of Mulholland Drive. The privately owned area sits between two larger areas of parkland that stretch from Little Fryman Canyon to the Laurel Canyon dog park.

The property contains a popular hiking trail, several dozen mature oak trees and a creek.

“This is a premier block of core urban habitat,” said Paul Edelman, a staff geologist for the conservancy.

The conservancy is buying the land from a group of doctors, but because the deal has not cleared escrow, conservancy officials will not say how much they paid for the land.

In addition to the county’s Proposition A funds, the conservancy is using its own share of some $40 million in Proposition A revenue.

Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Lecohabe property had been considered for the site of a housing tract. But the combination of environmental opposition and the bottoming out of the real estate market delayed development plans.

But, said Edelman: “It probably would have been built up if we hadn’t become involved.”

The county had originally planned to spend most of the $300,000 to purchase the 80-acre Chateau Calabasas property, officials said.

But because recent appraisals value that parcel under the county’s budgeted amount, the county was able to transfer the funds to the conservancy and still have enough for the other deal, county officials said.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents the area, said he was pleased that the county helped the conservancy purchase the land and preserve it as open parkland.

“To keep it in open space for future generations is a very noble objective and I’m glad we were able to help to do that,” said Yaroslavsky. “It is a very unique property. There are creeks, and in the winter, there are even some waterfalls. The purchase by the conservancy is going to protect wildlife that is there, and is going to enhance public access.”