Communication from Public

Name: Date Submitted: 10/17/2019 09:47 PM Council File No: 19-0794 Comments for Public Posting: Please see article attached. It explains that fires continue to have a pattern of burning in similar areas and now with climate change much more frequently. In Sunland-Tujunga there have been many fires in the last 11 years just to name a few of the bigger ones, Station Fire, Creek, and La Tuna. The frequency of these fires is increasing. This property being considered for rezoning is in a Wildland Urban Interface and in a Very High Fire Severity Zone that experience High Wind Velocity with gusts of winds over 60 mph. Please reconsider keeping this land open space, recreation, and a memorial for the Tuna Canyon Detention Center, and continue to use it for a water or a watershed. This will allow defensible space for all the homes around and above this property and will not increase the dangers of evacuating more residents on the very narrow crowded streets surrounding this property. I thank you in advance for your consideration of finding a way to keep us safe and preserve this very sacred land. Sincerely resident of Tujunga for 27 years. Opinion: The Sylmar area has burned three times in recent years. What are we thinking?

The Saddleridge fire climbs the ridgeline in Sylmar, closing portions of the 210 and 118 freeways the morning of Oct. 11. (Los Angeles Times) By CHAR MILLER OCT. 12, 2019

7:07 PM The Saddleridge fire in Sylmar at the northern edge of Los Angeles is the latest in a long line of infernos that have chased tens of thousands of Angelenos from their homes, disrupted the region’s massive transportation grid and turned toxic the air that we all breathe.

When is enough, enough? When we will absorb the lessons that nature has been dishing out in Southern California for the past century — that we inhabit a fire- prone terrain, that such conflagrations are a direct result of how we have constructed the sprawling built landscape we inhabit, and that due to climate change there will be plenty more Saddleridge fires in the coming years?

The Saddleridge fire is a microcosm of the larger issues at stake whenever flames sweep across what is called the wildland-urban interface — that space where the natural meets the human-made. Sylmar is perfectly situated to help explain just how complicated and dangerous the interaction can be between fire and the place people call home.

Keep in mind that it is the third such major conflagration to erupt in the Sylmar area alone over the past 11 years.

In November 2008, driven by 80 mile-an-hour Santa Ana winds, the Sayre fire in Sylmar raced through more than 11,000 acres and shut down the five major freeways that crisscross the area — the 5, 210, 14, 405 and the 118. The blaze torched upward of 500 homes and other structures, many of which were manufactured housing. Years later, their skeletal remains were still visible from the 210 Freeway, a ghastly, ghostly reminder of this particular fire’s incendiary rush that forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate.

Nearly the same tragic story played out in December 2017, when the wind- whipped 15,000-acre Creek fire exploded a few miles from where the Sylmar fire had started. During its month-long run, the Creek fire leaped across the same set of freeways as its embers rode the swift Santa Ana winds and set spot fires far in advance of the main blaze. Although the number of structures it consumed were far fewer than in the 2008 fire — “only” 100 went up in smoke— the Creek fire, too, led to a massive evacuation. More than 115,000 were forced to seek shelter.

The flight of residents from the Sylmar area was further complicated by the fact that the Creek fire was just one of a devastating complex of fires that blew up that December. To its west, the monster Thomas fire killed two and burned a then-record 280,000 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, shutting down the 101 and 118 freeways. Two additional blazes flared up: The Rye fire to Sylmar’s north, consumed a modest 6,000 acres but shut down the hyper-busy Interstate 5. The 422-acre Skirball fire turned the 405 freeway into a gridlocked nightmare.

Then, as now, residents were warned not to get on the highways unless absolutely necessary.

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That pragmatic warning is a response to the tight link between housing developments hammered into the wildland-urban interface — the fire zones — and the highway and energy infrastructures that enable people to commute to and from these peripheral communities. And from which they will need to flee every time a fast-moving fire, like the Saddleridge, roars down a canyon, flashes across a highway or takes out the house next door.

Surely it’s time to change this longstanding pattern of flight and (fire)fight. Of building where we should not build. Here, then, is a modest proposal. As soon as firefighters gain control of the Saddleridge fire, local governments should launch open-session discussions about their hitherto seemingly unshakable commitment to green-light housing developments in fire zones. They cannot ignore the reality that their actions have added more fuel to an already flammable landscape and have turned what we have been describing as “wildfires” into structural fires.

To change this dynamic, city and county governments could float bonds to purchase from willing sellers undeveloped or burned acres within the wildland- urban interface, much as flood-prone San Antonio, Texas, has been doing within floodplains to keep people out of harm’s way. Put another way, local agencies cannot afford to continue to pursue business as usual, use the state’s housing crisis to sanction the construction of vast subdivisions — and hope for the best

As any Sylmar resident can attest, hope is not a fireproof strategy.

Char Miller is a professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College and author of “Not So Golden State: Sustainability vs. the California Dream.”

Communication from Public

Name: Date Submitted: 10/17/2019 10:47 PM Council File No: 19-0794 Comments for Public Posting: I ask the City of Los Angeles, to acknowledge that Tujunga Canyon is at capacity and is dangerous. Please see the picture of the 17 year old that died in a traffic accident right next to the property that is being considered to rezone to high density housing. There were 14 traffic fatalities in Sunland-Tujunga in less than 2 years. Cramming more homes and cars into our community will make our streets even more dangerous. The developer bought the land zoned as RA-1 and A1-1, there is no reason to change the rules of the ballgame now. When is enough, enough?

Communication from Public

Name: Date Submitted: 10/17/2019 11:04 PM Council File No: 19-0794 Comments for Public Posting: Sunland - Tujunga streets are very dangerous. Attached is a sampling of the traffic fatalities over the last several years. Increasing zoning to allow an additional 430+ cars is adding to the problem. Please fix the outdated general plan/community plan to match the zoning of RA-1 and A1-1. No increase in density. Case No. Exhibit A CPC-2007-3082- VZC-SPR-SPP & VTT-69976-1A Exhibit B

TRAFFIC DEATHS

DATE NAME DESCRIPTION LOCATION

10100 block of Sunland 10/24/2014 30 year old woman killed Boulevard. due to a reckless driver 7/3/2016 Max Gonzalez 21 year old on Motorcycle Foothill Blvd & Rhodesia Ave 19 year old dead - Deadly multi-vehicle crash 8/12/2016 Geghard Karami in Sunland 4 others injured 9200 block of La Tuna Cyn Rd 31 year old dead - Deadly multi-vehicle crash 8/12/2016 Argisht Minasian in Sunland 4 others injured 9200 block of La Tuna Cyn Rd 17 year old Crescenta Valley High Student, 3 9100 Block Tujunga Canyon 10/27/2016 Christine Martinez others injured Boulevard 10/10/2016 Anonymous Tujunga Man killed 10330Mountair Ave La Tuna Cyn Rd west of 210 12/9/2017 Mr Jackson man killed riding his bike freeway 7800 block of Foothill 4/2/2018 Anonymous 2 people killed in solo car collision Boulevard 7800 block of Foothill 4/2/2018 Anonymous 2 people killed in solo car collision Boulevard Sunland - Wentworth vehicle and 6/20/2018 Anonymous motorcycle, motorcycist died Wentworth Disappearing Bike Lane - Foothill Blvd east of swerved to avoid a stopped 4/29/2019 30 year end Bicyclist killed Commerce car Hit and run Crash in Tujunga Man and 5/10/2019 Ariane Turek Woman killed on motorcycle Foothill Blvd & Valmont St Hit and run Crash in Tujunga Man and 5/10/2019 James Bellissimo Woman killed on motorcycle Foothill Blvd & Valmont St

10/2/2019 Motorcyclist killed Tujunga Canyon Blvd

Communication from Public

Name: Date Submitted: 10/17/2019 11:42 PM Council File No: 19-0794 Comments for Public Posting: Please see article attached.

Communication from Public

Name: Date Submitted: 10/17/2019 11:45 PM Council File No: 19-0794 Comments for Public Posting: Enough already - see article attached.

Communication from Public

Name: John and Nancy Mason Date Submitted: 10/17/2019 02:13 PM Council File No: 19-0794 Comments for Public Posting: Our Council Member Monica Rodriguez understands our concerns with living within a Wildland-Urban Interface and opposes the rezoning of the Verdugo Hills Golf Course (aka 6433 La Tuna Canyon Road). This project will adversely affect the community in the following ways and for the following reasons: 1. Fire evacuation limitation. The adjacent Tujunga Canyon Blvd is only 2 lanes (25 feet wide in total) and must handle this project, the adjacent community of Crystal View located directly above and the remainder of residents of Tujunga. 2. No public school availability. There are no public schools south of Foothill Blvd.within walking distance and there are no sidewalks on Tujunga Canyon Blvd. or La Tuna Canyon Road 3. No public transportation. There is no bus service to this area. 4. Equestrian property limitation. This zoning change would eliminate the equestrian use of this property, which is connected to La Tuna Canyon and multiple horse properties. 5. Inappropriate housing density. This proposed project would not be consistent with the overall land use in this area. This property is already zoned for 90 equestrian properties. 6. Wildlife disruption. This project threatens the available habitat and wildlife corridors between the Verdugo Hills and the Angeles Forest. 7. Traffic congestion and gridlock. Egress from this project would greatly aggravate the current traffic congestion on Tujunga Canyon Blvd., which is one of only two access roads to Tujunga from the east. We asked that you say NO to rezoning the Verdugo Hills Golf Course (aka 6433 La Tuna Canyon Rd, PLUM Item No. 19-0794)