Acton Park

County of Los Angeles Parks Department

5-6-99 Atten: Larry Hensley

The following is in opposition to the proposed negative declaration, .

Many items within the negative declaration are factually incorrect and show that the County has not idea of the potential damages to the community caused by the park. We are referencing your section number,

Section 1.0. There was no community input at public meetings. The meetings were staged by a pro-park group that specifically and systematically excluded members on its committee, anyone who would oppose the park. There are attached new paper clippings, with a direct quote by the park chairman, Kathy Howald., that once the committee was “full”, no new members were allowed. “Full” by her definition was when filled with people that supported the issue.

The most strong opposition by the community to the park, is the public vote on Proposition A and it's supplemental Prop A-1. In both of these elections, the community overwhelmingly turned down Prop A by over 65% and turned down “son of Prop A” by an even higher number. This obviously represents the will of the community because if they were interested in the project they would have voted yes in favor of the project. This is a vote of the people controlled under normal voting conditions.

These so-called community groups and so-called community meetings are simply advocates for the park who want to ride roughshod over the community's wishes. In addition, a survey that was done for the Acton Standards, approximately in 1989, showed 95% of the people opposed county facilities to be erected in Acton.

Dating back to even older surveys done by other community groups, the numbers were just as high in opposition to facilities in the community. This opposition rises because the community does not want a public park, and feels that the public park will cause high levels of crime and other negative influences within the community.

Table 1.

Acton and Aqua Dulce have been improperly included in the Antelope Valley planning area. They are in fact in the Santa Clarita Valley and they are an entirely different drainage basin than the Antelope Valley. To include them in the Antelope Valley which has no similar areas, is simply improper and indicates the deficient planning made here. The population projection of 18,000 by 2010, and the need for local parkland is again fraudulent.

There is not sufficient water supplies to produce and support this population and the area has no regional sewage treatment plant under a prohibition from Regional Water Quality of having houses built on anything less than one acre lots would require a regional water treatment plant to be installed. That would require a vote of the people in the community and it is highly unlikely they would ever vote for a sewage treatment plant to be paid from them to include an increase in density. Therefore, the expected rapid growth statement is inaccurate and falsely represents the true facts.

The Acton lot sizes are sufficient to be exempt from QUIMBY money requirements as the lots themselves are sufficiently large enough to provide recreational opportunities for the residents. Therefore a public park is inappropriate within the community on the same theory that each residential property has that facility. Acton has only one small apartment unit of about 30 units. There will never be another until a regional sewage treatment plant is installed, which again is unlikely given the scenario listed above.

1 Subparagraph C

In fact it would create glare. The community of Acton has adamantly opposed streetlights and any form of external lighting. The security lighting would damage the community and create glare in the local area. The other lighted facilities would similarly damage the area. The Acton Standard Ordinance is very precise, that all lighting must be shielded so it does not shine on other properties. Therefore, this basketball use and other uses could not be met and still conform with the Acton Standards Ordinance.

IV Subparagraph B

There are mature trees on the site. The fact that our Juniper trees are only eight to ten feet tall at maximum, does not allow you to call them a non-mature tree. There are specimens of the same type of tree, which have been measured in age in the community ranging from hundreds to thousands of years in age. There is a photograph of Acton taken in the 1860's and an identical picture taken in the 1990's and it showed the same Juniper trees on the same ridges, except where they had been knocked down by developers as “shrubs”. It is unlikely a tree that has remained unchanged for 130 years could be called a shrub, but must in fact be identified as a valuable tree.

Subsection D

In fact the area is a vernal pool. During high water conditions, standing water develops on the site and in fact creates the classic definition of a vernal pool wetlands. Therefore this issue must be identified and listed as the elimination of the vernal pool within the community. If one will refer to the USGS topical map of the area, you will plainly see that you are in the middle of a blue line stream. It seems again that the group that developed this, didn't do the first basic test to see if a blue line stream existed on the property.

Paragraph V A

The claim earlier that no agricultural use land would be disturbed is not consistent with the statement that the area has been disturbed by agricultural use and that there are no known Paleontology resources on the site. Acton has been for thousands of years, a site for Indians and others to live in the area because of the source of water, the Santa Clara River.

There are numerous reported examples of finding Indian artifacts throughout Acton and it quite likely that it will be on this site also. This site has never been developed at any time and never used for any agricultural purposes. It is in fact a virgin piece of property. We cannot believe that this would be considered a low archeological sensitivity area because of the high amount of Indian artifacts found in the area.

Paragraph D

In fact it will have a major change on the unique cultural value. Acton's unique cultural value is low crime. It is common knowledge, widely expressed in both the Media and other sources that parks bring in large amounts of crime, therefore it would change a low crime area into a high crime area and it is incomprehensible that a school, an elementary school, should be located directly opposite a public park, with the only public bathrooms in the area.

Subparagraph E

Since it is located directly in the blue line stream, that has a flow rate according to the county of some 7000 cubic feet per second, it would seem quite logical that the area could be subject to the large amount of mud flows. In fact this area has had significant mud and debris flow through it during major rainfalls.

Paragraph 8

It implies that “..the county would be responsible for connecting the existing off site drainage network..” there is no drainage network in Acton, except our homes and our streets. Any area that has become impervious, increases a runoff and flood damages below. There are many people in the area with homes have never been flooded, which were built in the '30's, but have been flooded in the last major rainstorm. Since the project is located directly in a flood plain, and would reduce the absorption rate within the area, as in fact a blue line stream, we would expect major impacts caused by increasing flow off the area during light rains and moderate rains. During a 50 year event the county has so designed the project site that it will wash out all of downtown Acton and surrounds, including your park which will eliminate any worry about it, but we are concerned about the increase in the run off that will occur in a 0 to possibly 25 year storm scenario.

Item E

An incredible inaccurate statement, there are no water courses in the vicinity of the project. It is in fact build on a blue line stream.

Subparagraph C

We believe that a park opposite an elementary school is incompatible because of the amount of crimes associated with parks, and that the park buildings including the rest rooms, will provide increased opportunities for children to be abducted and abused within the area.

Paragraph 11

Noise would be radically increased by the use of these facilities outside of the daytime hours. The school has limited amount of playgrounds and limited amount of noise, but this park intends to operate in the evenings and at nights- see quotes concerning basketball lights- therefore this would increase the noise level within the community and would be significantly damaging to the community. The noise level in Acton at night is extremely low, primarily made up of background noise from the freeway located some one and one half miles to the north.

Paragraph 13

Fire protection. There is inadequate fire protection currently in Acton because there is only one fire company for the entire community and the distances serving very portions of the community are above the safe limits for the area. There is insufficient fire flow to maintain 2500 gallon per minute fire flow at this site. Therefore the negative impact of both the water system and the cost of improving the water system, plus the reduction of the availability of the fire and Paramedic trucks due to the type of accidents that normally occur in parks, would reduce the services available to the community.

B

Aanother incredible misstatement is “..the park is being patrolled by park police..” The next inadequate statement is that response time is generally five minutes in Acton by the Sheriff's department. The actual response time in Acton, to an emergency, can range from twenty minutes to two hours and for non emergency conditions the police are just too busy to even respond. You are going to bring in a high crime facility, which is the park, into an area that has absolutely no police protection to speak of, therefore the additional crime produced by the facility is a significant impact and must be mitigated.

We believe that the park will be used by the gangs that commute between Los Angeles and Palmdale. Both Palmdale and Lancaster and the northern San Fernando Valley are filled with gangs. They commute regularly through the Acton area. They have been pretty well removed from the parks in the Antelope Valley by having full time guards available at a lot of the parks on a 12 to 24 hour basis. In Acton, this park will be unprotected and unmanned and just off the freeway and Soledad Canyon, which are the two major commute routes, will be the meeting place for all of these gang members to stop and exchange drug sales.

Paragraph 14

States that there are no recreational opportunities in Acton. Again an unmitigated misstatement. There are community developed ball fields at the Acton Rehab Center, paid for and built by the community. Each of the schools have extensive facilities that are used by the community, and there are other facilities in general. As stated above, most homes are sufficiently large to provide recreational opportunities. Therefore, characterizing the area as having no recreational opportunities is simply not factual. The roads in the community are hazardous as shown by numerous accidents. Escondido Canyon has had a recent fatality caused by the high speed commuters forcing their way through our community. The community has virtually no four way stops and is used during the commuting hours as a bypass to the freeway. This creates a tremendous hazard to the existing people and the addition of the park to the area will only add more hazard.

Septic Disposal

This project will require a waste discharge permit from Regional Water Quality. Regional Water Quality has prohibited the discharge of more than one home per acre. I think it would be quite arguable that the sewage discharge from this park would exceed the equivalent of those homes per acre. Further, the fertilizer applied to the grass to keep it growing, would add additional nitrate pollution to the community. Therefore, the issue of nitrate pollution must be examined as a negative impact.

E

Without question storm damage by flood waters will be radically increased below the park because of the production of the facility and the fact that there is no storm drain facility within the community. The community, in a survey, thoroughly eliminated any idea of paying for any storm drain facility and the various agencies including the Sierra Club, have demanded that the tributaries in the upstream areas from the Santa Clara River remain natural, therefore your project would also damage this.

Cumulative

The park would urbanize the community and create a cumulative damage. Parks are an urban facility, they are not a rural facility. In fact if the county has a lot of money they would like to throw away, what could be done as we have suggested before is to purchase vacant land and keep the land vacant without being an active park. That would have a benefit to the community. An urban park located in a rural community is by definition a negative impact. It will bring in crime, create flooding and produce no discernible benefit except to those few people who have tried to force this park down the community's throat. We demand a full Environmental Study be conducted of the issues we have raised, and advise you that you next need to really involve the community in your plans, not just one group of people who have a particular agenda. I can assure you there are sufficient people in the community that will bring a lawsuit immediately after you, if you would adopt this negative declaration, and I can also assure you with a vote of over 65% of the community opposing the project it will be hard to explain to the Board of Supervisors why you are forcing this park into a community that has clearly expressed it's position, no park in our community.

Charles Brink

Acton Park index
Acton News Home page
Vanguard News Home page