For the two kids sharing a ride on a brown horse and trotting down the streets of Wrigley, Monday could have been just like any other typical day in the suburbs of west Long Beach. Shaded by a cowboy hat, Rigo Guzman, 13, sat in the saddle behind little Adrian Guzman, 5. They emerged from around the corner to follow a short trail along 31st Street that led to an area at the heart of a controversy between LA County and homeowners along San Francisco Avenue.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Equestrian2.jpg” credit=”CJ Dablo/Signal Tribune” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”A horse nuzzles its owner, Renee Lawler, an advocate for the Wrigley Heights Equestrian Association. She and her neighbors along a block of San Francisco Avenue are critical of a County plan to develop the land behind their homes into a public-equestrian area.” captionposition=”right”] The County is proposing to develop property near the LA River into a public-equestrian recreational area. It’s a controversial plan. The strip of land in question runs behind the back yards of 10 homes along San Francisco Avenue, between 31st and Spring streets, and it seemed to be already claimed by the residents in that area. Corrals and fencing were built by homeowners long ago. A small shelter, which looks a little bit like a greenhouse, sits on one corner lot.
According to homeowner and advocate Renee Lawler, the owners had offered to buy the land in the 1980s and had even paid a deposit to buy it. Over a year ago, the Signal Tribune reported that the County and the residents could not come to any kind of agreement on the price of the land. Since that time, the property continued as it had been!until now.
According to Mark Lombos, civil engineer with LA County’s Department of Public Works, the entire area has always been designated as flood-control property and then, as recently as 2002, the area was rezoned for park and public use. Lombos said that the master plan for the LA River intended that the river itself would be a public resource.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”500px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/PERA-Equestrian5.jpg” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Young riders, Rigo Guzman, 13, and Adrian Guzman, 5, are two of a number of horse lovers enjoying the equestrian life in Wrigley. On Monday, Nov. 23 they followed a path that leads from residential streets onto an area at the heart of a controversy between LA County and the owners of 10 homes along San Francisco Avenue.” captionposition=”left”] Jane Grobaty, a community information officer with the Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation & Marine, confirmed that the area is flood-control property and it’s slated for the Wrigley Greenbelt project. She explained in a statement that the project, which covers eight acres, was meant to include: a “multi-use trail connecting walkers, bikers and equestrians from 26th Way to 34th Street along the Los Angeles River; native [and] drought-tolerant landscaping; irrigation; picnic tables; water fountains; [and] hitching posts.” She added that at the base of the LA River levee there would be a “connection to the existing LA River bike path at the top of the levee.”
Grobaty said that the LA County Regional Park & Open Space District has funded the project through grants totaling $1,300,000. The two grants were awarded to Long Beach to create trails and add other amenities for residents. The city council already approved the agreement with the County for the overall Greenbelt project last March, she said.
County officials explained in an interview last week that the area behind the homes on San Francisco were not included in the original Greenbelt project because of the controversy surrounding the use of the land.
It’s a problem that the County alone will be solving, since the land belongs to its flood-district. Even though the residents on that block of San Francisco built fixtures for their horses years ago, the County still considers that land an encroachment on their property.
“I understand that the residents are currently working with the County of Los Angeles on the encroachment concerns,” said 7th District Councilmember Roberto Uranga in a statement. “I would like to see the community outreach completed and the area incorporated as part of the greater Los Angeles River enhancement project.”
Homeowners like Lawler are still fighting to hold on to that land because they need that area to “turn out” their horses and offer their animals room to exercise.
County officials had hoped their latest proposal would serve as a compromise. They plan to transform that land into a public equestrian rest area, or PERA. The plan would connect to the equestrian trails along the LA River. County officials had mentioned in a presentation to residents in a meeting Nov. 18 that some of the ideas for the area included benches, a watering area and an arena for all horse owners along the trails to share.
“And so it will actually complement the existing equestrian trail that’s currently there now along the LA River,” Lombos said in a telephone interview last week, adding that the land that was already designated for the public isn’t available to them because it’s currently enclosed by the 10 residents. He confirmed that the new plan won’t eliminate horses from the area. It was just a question of making the area for all the horse owners, not just those particular residents.
“So, what we’re hoping to do is address that encroachment issue by creating a facility that will still maintain its equestrian use,” he concluded.
Lawler wasn’t happy with the progress the County had made. She was interviewed prior to the meeting with the County on Nov. 18 and in the days after the meeting.
“They’ve never fairly negotiated with the equestrians,” she said of the County in a phone interview. “They’ve never allowed us to proceed with the original contract on the table.” In a subsequent interview, she scrutinized the County plan to turn the area into an arena, explaining that it might be dangerous for horses from the property in her back yard exiting onto a multi-use trail that includes pedestrians and dog walkers. She added that it also wasn’t practical for owners to share an arena since some horses may not get along with other horses.
