81-Acre Parcel Dedicated as Park
An 81-acre parcel jointly purchased by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the city of Calabasas was dedicated Friday as Dry Creek Canyon Park.
The property, which is south of Mulholland Highway and east of Topanga Canyon Road, once was proposed for home development.
Instead, it was purchased in December for $1 million, with the conservancy paying one-third and Calabasas the balance. The conservancy used funds from Proposition 12, the largest parks bond issue in U.S. history, approved by voters last year to expand local and state parks and preserve open space and wildlife habitat.
Calabasas dipped into a $500,000 general fund it had devoted to open space and park expansion, said Lesley Devine, councilwoman and mayor pro tem.
Most of the land will be retained in its natural state for hiking, equestrian and other uses, officials said. The parcel represents one part of a 640-acre proposed land acquisition that has been on the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy’s wish list since 1993, said Paul Edelman, chief of planning and natural resources for the conservancy.
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