Valley Perspective : Communities Must Guard Against the ‘Cut and Fill’ Method : A proposal for the Deervale-Stone Canyon area would involve moving 1.1 million cubic yards of earth.
The 1980s must be returning. A development company has filed with the city of Los Angeles to develop the largest parcel of undeveloped land within Sherman Oaks.
The 79-acre project would be between Beverly Glen Boulevard and Stone Canyon Avenue south of Valley Vista Boulevard. The proposal is to cut up to 30 feet off the top of the eastern Stone Canyon ridge for almost a mile. The dirt would be dumped into the adjacent canyon below Deervale Drive. Homes would be built on the top of the Stone Canyon ridge and in the filled canyon below Deervale.
That destructive method of development unfortunately was prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s. Major portions of the Santa Monica Mountains were destroyed this way.
This developer wants to build 24 homes on the 79 acres. It may sound like a low-density development. However, most of the land is vertical. The project would create horizontal lots from vertical land.
Most of the easily developed land in the Santa Monica Mountains was developed in the 1960s through 1980s. What is left are problem properties that require massive grading. These projects were not economical in the 1980s when the homes could be sold for much higher prices than currently. The developers want to build now because they expect an improving real estate market.
Since 1978, owners of the Deervale-Stone Canyon property have been trying to subdivide and build homes there. Many other development companies probably studied methods to economically and safely develop the property. However, no one has found a way to safely and economically solve the inherent problems of vertical land.
This latest proposal involves the movement of 1.1 million cubic yards of earth. Such earth movement is contrary to city of Los Angeles goals of protecting the small part of the Santa Monica Mountains still in its natural state.
The problems that the Deervale-Stone Canyon development area would face are typical of those that exist in other San Fernando Valley hillside developments:
* A history of earthslides that can be exacerbated by massive grading and removal of the Stone Canyon ridge.
* Traffic problems as the developer tries to connect the project to narrow winding hillside roads. The connection of roads from the project to Beverly Glen would impact cross-mountain traffic as well as area residents.
* Safety concerns as they attempt to build on a canyon containing uncompacted dirt that was dumped there as part of previous developments in the hillsides. The material was dumped without being compacted because the dumping took place before the city’s landfill ordinance was adopted.
* The adverse effects of the project on the value and desirability of existing homes in the area.
The project would remove 700 of the 1,150 trees on the property. The animals--deer, for example--that live on the property would be removed and some destroyed. The natural stream that flows through the area would be covered or shifted elsewhere.
Councilman Michael Feuer, who represents the area, and the Los Angeles City Council will ultimately decide what is built in this part of Sherman Oaks.
The Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., with the assistance of hydrologists, geologists and traffic engineers, will work to make sure that any project built on this land is compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods and is an asset, not a liability, to the community.
As the real estate market rebounds in the Valley, developers will look at the remaining undeveloped land. They will search for ways to develop property that was not developable in the past.
Residents need to protect their neighborhoods to make sure that the unsightly and potentially dangerous “cut and fill” process is not used.
A compatible development involves minimal grading, mitigation of problems created in the neighborhood and the clustering of new homes in accessible areas. This greatly reduces the costs to the developer. The homes are more valuable because they are in a natural setting, rather than built on manufactured lots.
The proposed destruction of this unique Sherman Oaks parcel should be a wake-up call for residents of other hillsides in the Valley. A developer can turn vertical land into horizontal lots only by massive grading and the destruction of the mountain ranges.
Hopefully, Councilman Feuer and the City Council will protect area residents from the adverse effects of “cut and fill” developments such as the Deervale-Stone Canyon project.
