High-Profile Cross for Sale in Simi

Seeking to avoid a lawsuit, Simi Valley park officials plan to sell a 12-foot cross that has stood atop Mt. McCoy on the city’s west end for more than 60 years.

For some, the cross is a cherished piece of the valley’s history; for others it is a religious symbol unsuited for public property.

The white concrete structure, which was designated a historic landmark in 1986, is near the location where Spanish priests erected a cross in the early 19th century as a guidepost for people traveling between the Ventura and San Fernando missions.

The Simi Valley Historical Society, which operates a museum down the hill from the cross, offered to buy the cross a year ago from the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District to ensure it remained a fixture in the community. The park board has scheduled a public hearing on the proposed sale at its meeting Wednesday.

“You talk to people who have grown up here in the valley who said they’d look for that cross when driving, knowing they were close to home,” said Caryl Barefoot, the society’s president. “It’s been a part of a lot of people’s heritage growing up.”

It’s also part of the city’s history. In maps dating back to 1855, a cross is shown standing in the same general vicinity. The current cross, which was provided by a local service club in 1941, replaced a wooden structure at the site west of Madera Road and south of Tierra Rejada Road.

Stuart Bechman, president of the Ventura County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, first raised questions three years ago about whether the cross owned by the park district violates federal and state constitutional guarantees of the separation of church and state.

Though he never pursued legal action against the park district, he suggested it could be vulnerable.

“They’ve been very gracious in listening to my concerns,” Bechman said. “I have no complaints about how they’ve handled it at all.”

Unlike some, Bechman said he was not bothered by the cross’ prominent hilltop presence. For him, the issue centers strictly on whether it is appropriate for a religious symbol to be placed on public property.

“I really have no problem with religious symbols on private land,” he said.

Under terms of the proposed deal, the park district would sell the cross and two-thirds of an acre to the historical society for $1,980. The district is exempt from opening the sale up to bids because the amount is lower than the appraised value of the land, which the district received as part of a donation from a developer.

Barefoot said that the historical society became concerned about the constitutional issue after a recent controversy erupted in Ventura over a cross that had stood for decades in city-owned Grant Park. Acting under the threat of a lawsuit, the city sold the cross in September for $104,000 to a local historic preservation group.

There have been similar court battles about crosses on publicly owned land in San Francisco and San Diego county, which resulted in portions of those sites being sold to private organizations.

“When the problems came up with the Grant Park cross in Ventura, we thought it would be a shame if we went through the same thing with our cross on Mt. McCoy,” Barefoot said.

Larry Peterson, park district general manager, said conditions surrounding the Mt. McCoy cross were different. The location is part of an 80-acre parcel donated to the park district in 1995 by a developer of homes near the Ronald Reagan presidential library.

He said no public money has been spent for upkeep on the cross and that trails leading to it were maintained by a private group, the Rancho Simi Trail Blazers.

“But it became pretty clear that seemingly the most appropriate avenue was to sell,” Peterson said. “It’s the least expensive alternative, probably with the least risk of litigation and allows preservation of a historically significant cross.”

Mike Kuhn, executive chairman of the Trail Blazers, estimates that more than 150 people a week hike the trails leading to the cross. He said he has made the trip more than 100 times.

“It certainly has a lot of meaning for a lot of people in this valley,” Kuhn said. “The solution they’re talking about should work out nicely. You’ll still be able to hike to it.”

Barefoot said several residents have indicated they would donate funds to purchase the land and that little money would probably be needed to maintain the cross.

If the park district agrees to go forward with the sale, the historical society would then take up the issue of purchase at its June 10 meeting.