Plan to protect ‘wildlife corridor’ moves forward
Proposal would limit building in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Aiming to ensure that coyotes, bobcats and other wild animals are not cut off from stretches of their habitat by new homes or other development, Los Angeles lawmakers moved forward with a plan Friday to enshrine a “wildlife corridor” in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains.
“We want to be certain that P-22” — the famed Griffith Park mountain lion — “can get around, meet P-23 and have P-24,” said City Councilman Paul Koretz, who championed the plan.
Following the vote to draft a new law, city staffers are now tasked with writing rules that would bar Los Angeles from issuing building or grading permits in the area until the city is certain that construction plans will permanently ensure that wild animals can cross from one part of their habitat to another.
The rules would also mandate deed restrictions to permanently protect those connections within the wildlife habitat. And every new building project in the zone would have to undergo a “habitat connectivity” review. The proposed ordinance still must come back to the City Council for approval before it can become law.
Environmental and wildlife protection groups such as Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife have pushed Los Angeles to adopt the plan, saying it will help maintain genetic variation in urban species that might otherwise become isolated, and will reduce conflict with humans by preventing animals from being confined in residential neighborhoods.
Joe Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, said some Angelenos might ask: “Will this stop development? Will this impose undue burdens on developers?”
But Edmiston said those problems haven’t occurred in other places around the country where wildlife corridors have been created.
Instead, “developers have to move over a little bit so that the animals in fact can have their pathways,” Edmiston said.
For instance, Koretz said the proposed rules might require someone to leave a small stretch on the edge of their property open rather than fencing off the entire property, to allow animals to pass.
“These are relatively modest changes to the planning code that will make a massive difference to the health of our bobcats and mountain lions and raccoons and other animals,” Koretz said.
Neighborhood groups that represent areas such as the Hollywood Hills, Mar Vista and Studio City have also thrown their support to the idea.
The new zone is slated to cover Los Angeles hillsides between Griffith Park and the 405 Freeway. City officials are also exploring the feasibility of imposing similar requirements in a broader area that includes the mountains encircling the San Fernando Valley.