“Pledged to Understanding the Horse” Equestrian Trails, Inc., Corral 36 ~ Established April 11, 1995 w.eticorral36.com Last preparations for MNVCA 60th Annual 4th of July Parade See pages 7 for ETI Waiver & 8 for Parade grooming tips RSVP now on our website! eticorral36.com/event/monthly-corral-meeting An Open Letter to the People – Projects planned in Calabasas NEW HOME Company – WEST VILLAGE AT CALABASAS -- EDITORIAL LETTER - June 23, 2019 The long game: We are looking to you for help. We must look together with an eye to the future. Do you think that the new building projects that are planned in the City of Calabasas are none of our business? Getting a MULTI-USE Trail Head in the Calabasas West Village Project is a critical piece in this puzzle of development. Within the city limits of Calabasas, there are no dedicated parking areas at the many parkland trail heads. Yet we have a dedicated portion of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. At either end of this national historic trail, there is no dedicated parking area at the western terminus and is totally lacking in adequate space for horse trailers at the eastern terminus on Calabasas Rd. Many of the equestrians residing in Calabasas (including Hidden Hills) ride the trails that take them across some of the 400 miles of trails within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). Additionally, riders from surrounding cities of Simi Valley, Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks, Malibu, and Newbury Park ride trails that go through Calabasas – along sections of the 67-mile Backbone Trail, a National Recreation Trail, that winds its way through Monte Nido along Stunt High Trail, Mesa Peak Fire Road, Tapia Park Trail, Piuma Ridge Trail, and Saddle Peak Trail --- all through the City of Calabasas or the sphere of the city’s influence. Further, many riders come from out of the area to ride here in the SMMNRA. It is surprising that the City of Calabasas lacks decent horse trailer parking at trails and trailheads within the city. If that is by accident, then perhaps it is time for you to remedy the problem and provide some parking for your constituents and visitors. If it is by design, then we ask you WHY? Since Calabasas promotes itself as the “Gateway to the Santa Monica Mountains National RECREATION Area” most people would wonder about where you are providing access for equestrians to park somewhere reasonable in order to enter that GATEWAY for their RECREATION. Just last year in April 2018, officials from the City of Calabasas ceremoniously opened the Don Wallace Multi- use Trail. How do the equestrians get to that trail? Where is the parking for anyone to access the trail? The vast number of trail users today need and deserve parking areas free from commercial and residential use. The New Home Co’s plans to build West Village at Calabasas would be a good place to begin remedying your deficient parking for horse trailers so your residents, constituents and visitors can enjoy the GATEWAY to the SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL RECREATION AREA. When there is no parking for trail access, that tells trail users that they cannot access the trails and are not welcome. Now imagine another WOOLSEY FIRE storm. CalFire has assigned the City of Calabasas its highest Fire Danger Rating = Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. This is a Health and Safety Issue which should be brought to the attention of CalFire! Remember that the 101 Freeway was jumped by the Woolsey Fire in multiple places. West Village at Calabasas violates Protected Open Space creating artificial and manufactured hills and slopes that will be compacted with a high clay content soil, and when packed will cause rainwater to not soak into the soil to feed new plantings but will run off. Clay and water make a heavy sludge that will flow into the tributaries that end in Las Virgenes Creek and the ocean. You can have an impact! You can influence and sway the local government decision-makers regarding West Village at Calabasas. Tell the City Council to reduce the number and height of buildings to properly fit the property frontage on Las Virgenes Road; to remove the buildings blocking the views of existing homes at The Colony of Calabasas; note that there is a lot of empty commercial space available across the street. Don’t allow more damage to happen to this irreplaceable and wondrous Open Space. Once it is gone, it is gone forever. Posse-up on all the following officials on this page: If we don’t become “the Squeaky Wheel” we equestrians will have no place to park our rigs and SAFELY SADDLE OUR HORSES! Write letters expressing the critical need for a MULTI-USE PARKING AREA in this New Home Co. development called West Village at Calabasas! Write/email to CITY OF CALABASAS. Be sure to add Subject: File # 160003152, New Home Co. **Mayor David J. Shapiro, City of Calabasas, 100 Civic Center Way, Calabasas, CA 91302; [email protected]. **And to: Glenn Mitchitsch, City of Calabasas, Community Development Department, Planning Division, 100 Civic Center Way, 1st Floor, Calabasas, CA 91302; [email protected]; [email protected] **CalFire -- Thom Porter, Director, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 1416 9th St. P.O. 944246, Sacramento, CA 94244-2460; 916. 653. 7772; http://www.osfm.fire.ca.gov; and to State Fire Marshal Dennis Mathisen, 2251 Harvard St., PO 944246, Sacramento, CA 94244-2460; 916.568.3800. http://calfire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/fire_prevention CONTINUE ON . GET OUR SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL RECREATION AREA & OUR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS INVOLVED: Make your voice heard by Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Joe Edmiston, Executive Director, 5750 Ramirez Canyon Rd, Malibu, CA 90265 - [email protected] and to Paul Edelman [email protected] and to Rorie Skei - [email protected] Santa Monica Mtns. Nat'l Rec. Area, David Szymanski, Superintendent, 401 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, California 91360-4207 [email protected] Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority George Lange, Chairman, - [email protected] Mountains Restoration Trust, Ezekiel Schlais, Executive Director, 23075 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas, CA 91302 USA - [email protected] Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, R. Brody, President, 30000 Mulholland Hwy., Agoura Hills, CA 91301 [email protected]; and to Nancy Helsley [email protected] 2 2 Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council, Ruth Gerson, President, P.O. Box 345, Agoura Hills, Ca 91301 - [email protected] Equestrian Trails, Inc., Tom Kirsch, President, P.O. Box 920668, Sylmar, CA 91392 [email protected]; [email protected] Equestrian Trails, Inc., Lynn Brown, ETI Trails Coordinator, P.O. Box 920668, Sylmar, CA 91392 - [email protected] Sheila Kuehl, L.A. County Supervisor 3rd District, 26600 Agoura Rd., Suite #100, Calabasas, CA 91302 [email protected]; Timothy Lippman, Deputy to Sheila Kuehl, L.A. County Supervisor 3rd District, 26600 Agoura Rd., Suite #100, Calabasas, CA 91302 - [email protected] and to Nicole Englund, Deputy to Sheila Kuehl, L.A. County Supervisor 3rd District, 26600 Agoura Rd., Suite #100, Calabasas, CA 91302 - [email protected] Senator Henry Stern, Calabasas District Office, 5016 N. Parkway Calabasas, Suite 222, Calabasas, CA 91302 - [email protected] Assemblyman Richard Bloom, 50th Assembly District, 2800 28th Street; Suite 105, Santa Monica, CA 90405, Fax: (310) 450-6090 - [email protected] ~~Stephanie Abronson, Life Member, ETI Corral 36 Newsletter Editor Let’s Connect! ETI Corral 36 Horse Club Launched Our Website! www.eticorral36.com Visit the website for information on: ~ What we are about ~ Upcoming events ~ Membership ~ Our current board members Link to 2005 through 2019 ETI Corral 36 Newsletters in OneDrive: https://1drv.ms/f/s!AolZnc9sfpiih7tcPtbBdKCXyNctxg ETI Corral 36 Board of Directors want to know what’s important to you “horse-wise”. Email your ideas to the board (contact details page 9); or better yet – come to our next meeting!! It takes a lot to run a Corral, and this recreational and safety-focused organization could be a little healthier. Volunteers are the heart of our Corral - if you are already involved with hosting an activity or a meeting or keeping the Corral train running, THANK YOU very much! If you are not already directly involved, please consider volunteering to keep our treasured organization on the track of success. Please join us at our next meeting. It’s listed on Page 1 above. Are your animals MICROCHIPPED? FIRE SEASON NEVER disappears here in Southern California! MICROCHIPS - A ‘must have item’ if you must evacuate your property and you want to get your animal(s) safely back home again. So easy to get through your veterinarian. you may download this booklet FREE at www.etinational.com, look for Forms & Documents. For information, contact Stephanie Abronso n (818) 222 PONY; [email protected]. 3 2 boeuf, Monte Nido.Photo by Ben Lamboeuf, Monte Nido 4 2 Submissions for the ETI Corral 36 Newsletter must be received by the 15th of each month prior to the monthly issue date, i.e. July 15th for the Aug. 2019 issue. Be sure to check On-Line the ETI National Magazine Calendar of Events. Lots of wonderful things to do with your horse. [email protected]. Visit our website, www.eticorral36.com, for more details about Corral 36 events. (Thursday) – Theme: “California Summer”; Be at Parade Line-up at 10:00 AM on Coray Way next to Edenwild Bridge. Parade: Starts 10:30am at Edenwild Bridge and finishes at Fleeman’s Meadow; Picnic at Fleeman’s Meadow (after the parade- horses are NOT ALLOWED in Fleeman’s Meadow.