Joel Wachs

It would seem improbable that Joel Wachs, councilman for the Sunland / Tujunga district, would have so suddenly changed his stripes concerning the welfare of the area’s natural ecology. He spearheaded a proposal that will pave the Tujunga Wash and its endangered spineflower with water-sucking golf greens. Now he champions the “correct” development of the Verdugo Hills and San Gabriel Mountains and regulation of its billboards, grading and buildings.

“There are so many mountains in our district, and once they are developed, they can’t be replaced,” says Arline DeSanctis, chief field deputy to Wachs (“Development Plan for Mountains in Works,” May 14). Where was this attitude when the councilman fought so vigorously to turn the irreplaceable Tujunga Wash into a playground for the affluent minority? Then the concern was for the fiscal health of the district. Are you sure that those same fiscal concerns, and I use this term generously, are not what drive you now, Councilman Wachs?

Wachs seems to be a firm proponent of the Scenic Highways Corridor Specific Plan. What if the area’s citizens do not want any billboards or grading or building on our beloved hillsides? We would like to assume that Wachs has our hillside’s best interests at heart, but after his showing with the Tujunga Wash we should remain dubious and informed. Let’s plan to redevelop Sunland / Tujunga’s Foothill Boulevard before we consider, under any guise, more urban sprawl into undeveloped areas. Let’s plan to restrict development completely, not regulate it for the benefit of anyone but nature.

DON TOMICH, Glendale