News of the Arroyo
Title: | Judge Approves Use of Hiking Trails Around La Vina Homes |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2008-04-29 |
Summary: | April 29, 2008 - A Pasadena Superior judge orders the Millard Canyon trail open to the public again after years of blocking it by the La Vina Homeowners Association. |
Author: | Janette Williams |
Publication: | Pasadena Star-News |
Content: | PASADENA - In a ruling that trail advocates hailed as a major victory, a judge has affirmed the public\'s right to use hiking trails around the gated La Vina housing development in Altadena\'s foothills. \"We\'re very happy, and I think the big victor is the public,\" Scott Kuhn, senior deputy counsel for Los Angeles County, which has been embroiled in litigation over public access with the La Vina Homeowners Association for three years. \"The public has the right to these trails forever - that\'s what was at stake here,\" Kuhn said Monday. Thomas M. Ware, the La Vina association\'s attorney, said the homeowners were \"disappointed\" with the decision handed down April 22 by Judge Joseph De Vanon in Pasadena Superior Court. \"We disagree with the ruling,\" Ware said. \"We are re-evaluating the appropriate response.\" The La Vina Homeowners Association, which owns 180 acres of open space forming a ring around the housing development, posted \"No Trespassing\" signs in May 2004 along a trail in Millard Canyon popular with hikers and equestrians. Kuhn said the county filed suit over access in 2005, after a year trying to \"work things out informally.\" The association claimed the omission of trails from the final tract map approved by the county had the legal effect of waiving previous agreements to allow public access. In his decision, De Vanon said La Vina has been involved in some form of litigation for the past 22 years, starting with the size and extent of the luxury development. It was clear that the conditions of county approval - which took 10 years to hash out - included a guarantee of public access to hiking trails, the judge said. The omission of trail maps was the result of error, De Vanon ruled, and \"at no point in the planning, development, approval and finalization process did the developer or the county intend to eliminate public hiking and equestrian trails.\" \"After 20 years, it\'s about time,\" Altadena Town Councilman Steve Lamb said of the decision. \"I\'m glad the court recognized that a clerk making an error cannot override the Board of Supervisors\' vote. But there\'s a long way to go, there will probably be at least one appeal.\" The La Vina Homeowners Association faces two more lawsuits over access, due to be heard in September, from the Save the Altadena Trails group and from Marietta Kruells, a private citizen represented by attorney and trails advocate Paul Ayers. \"This struggle started in 1978, when La Vina was essentially being pushed down our throats with the sop that we\'d get trails out of it,\" Ayers said. \"It\'s so insulting to have to go through this to get what was promised essentially as a small consolation prize. It\'s obvious the judge made the correct call. Now we\'ll wait and see what the Association does.\" The court has ordered the association to dedicate trail easements in locations indicated in the development documents; the county will be responsible for construction and maintenance of the trails. The county was also awarded fees and costs, which Ayers estimates at about $1 million. Kuhn said the trails are in open land, \"not going through anyone\'s back yard.\" \"It\'s important - these trails link up with the larger trail system at Millard Camp[ground] and accessing entry points on the east,\" Kuhn said. \"Not to mention the promises made during development.\" janette.williams@sgvn.com (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4482 http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/rds_search/ci_9087950?IADID=Search- www.pasadenastarnews.com-www.pasadenastarnews.com |
Url: |