Deal Will Create Valley-to-Sea Park Corridor

The California Department of Parks and Recreation completed a $43-million deal Thursday to purchase 1,659 acres in lower Topanga Canyon, extending the reach of Topanga State Park from the San Fernando Valley all the way to the sea.

State officials bought the property from LAACO Ltd., owner of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, in an arrangement brokered by the American Land Conservancy in San Francisco.

“It’s such a wonderful purchase,” said Harriet Burgess, the conservancy’s president. “It completes the most magnificent urban coastal park in the state [parks] system.”

The purchase has been on California’s priority list for new parkland since the mid-1970s, shortly after the state obtained a narrow slice of coastline now called Topanga State Beach.

The 1,659 acres, primarily open space, will connect the state beach with Topanga State Park farther up the canyon. State officials envision a new, uninterrupted trail that would allow hikers to trek from the Valley to the Pacific Ocean.

“We are delighted to have acquired the property,” said Roy Stearns, the park department’s top spokesman.

Rusty Areias, state parks director, has said the purchase fits in perfectly with the governor’s priorities for the department: buying and repairing parks close to where people live.

Historically, Southern California has gotten short shrift in parkland purchases, he said. This acquisition will begin to make up for past neglect. “The governor’s very excited about it,” Areias said. “It’s a fabulous wildlife corridor and in close proximity to where people live.”

State parks officials hope to make a formal announcement of the purchase next week in a ceremony featuring the governor.

The bulk of the acquisition money, about $38 million, came from Proposition 12, the state parks bond passed by voters last year. The Legislature provided an extra $5 million to help relocate 47 households tucked into the canyon and some of the 13 businesses that are located at the foot of the property along Pacific Coast Highway.

Officials were preparing letters Thursday to each of the tenants, assuring them of just treatment.

“It’s good to hear they will be treated fairly,” said Frank Angel, an attorney representing the tenants. “Now we have to see deeds following their words. We were encouraged that all options, including long-term leases, are on the table.”

Park officials said some of the businesses, which include the Reel Inn, the Malibu Feed Bin and Oasis Furniture, may be allowed to stay.

“We do have concessions in our parks, and some of them may qualify,” Stearns said.

The determination will be made in the next six months as officials begin working on a master plan for the park. The plan includes provisions for restoring wetlands filled in decades ago to build PCH.

Burgess said she knows that eviction will be a hardship for longtime tenants, some of whom have been living in rustic housing at below-market rents for decades. Average rent runs about $850 a month for a small house. But she said a few have inquired about state relocation benefits, because they have found other housing.

Besides moving expenses, some tenants could get up to $50,000 in relocation benefits to use toward a down payment or to receive in monthly checks for 3 1/2 years to help cover higher rent on comparable dwellings.

Officials said they want to remove the tenant housing and the septic tanks, scattered along Topanga Creek and in what used to be wetlands near PCH. The tanks are suspected of polluting the creek and contributing to bacteria detected in the waters at the state beach.

“There is some work to be done, but this is a beautiful canyon,” Burgess said. “Remarkably, most of it has survived as wilderness.”