Money Over Mountains

There is a dark joke among those who live in the rugged western valleys of the Santa Monica Mountains that “county planning” is an oxymoron on the level of “military justice.” Sadly, it’s true. Over the past two decades, Los Angeles County officials have, in a formula of equal parts greed and incompetence, effectively gutted one of Southern California’s last wild areas.

As Times reporter T. Christian Miller concluded after an exhaustive analysis of county planning practices during the 1980s, the Board of Supervisors and its appointed commissioners routinely approved housing projects larger than permitted by plans--undermining efforts to preserve the area while developers funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars into campaign coffers.

All of it was perfectly legal. But it was the worst kind of public policy.

County planners drafted a new long-term growth blueprint for the mountains after a judge in 1975 voided existing plans, in part because they did not adequately protect the Santa Monicas--home to deer, mountain lions and the southernmost run of steelhead trout. In 1978, the range won designation as a national recreation area. State and federal recreation agencies cooperated on a network of trails and public parks intended both to open the Santa Monicas to more visitors and to protect the landscape and its wildlife. Yet since 1981, 40% of the subdivision plans filed in the western Santa Monicas on the remaining private land have been bigger than county plans allowed.

Development plans are designed to be flexible and changes must sometimes be made. But they must be made within the context of the plan. The county’s piecemeal approach, considering each project in isolation, meant that no one tracked the cumulative effects on roads, schools, sewers or the natural environment.

Some effects are easy to measure. Residents of newer, denser mountain developments are twice as likely to file for disaster aid as residents of older projects. They pay some of the highest sewer fees in the county to finance costly upgrades. Campuses in the Las Virgenes Unified School District are packed with temporary classrooms.

The problem is not unique to Los Angeles County. Frustrated voters in Ventura, Marin and Sonoma counties have passed laws making it tougher for elected officials to change growth plans, but such legislation is no guarantee of sound planning.

A new plan is being drawn for the Santa Monicas, incorporating the views of those who recognize that the range is a resource to be protected. County supervisors have a new opportunity to protect a natural treasure and put some proof behind their hollow statements that developer campaign contributions have no effect on their votes.