Red Car Property: Land Grab? BS? Fence Supposed To Prevent Dumping And Protect New Planting

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, September 18, 2016.  When grading for the Riverside Drive project between Gilroy and Clearwater went over the property line, endangering native trees, it was bad enough, but then the developer made a land grab with a fence across the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #2, September 18, 2016. The bulldozer took out two  concrete post property line markers that marked the rear property line of the Riverside Drive lots as they met the Red Car Property.  The posts had been in place for over 100 years and are still in place in parts of the not only this neighborhood, but wherever the Red Car Trolleys ran in Southern California.  Railroads nationwide, marked their property with the steel reinforced concrete posts.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #2, September 23, 2016.  But as soon as the fence went across the flat part of the Red Car Property, leaving only a narrow weed strewn path to walk or ride your bike on, neighbors and other Red Car Property users freaked out.  We sent photos to the property owner's rep who said they had met with the property owner last week and a fence would be coming, but he did not say it was going to be one that appeared to take a 70' wide portion of the property. We pointed out the lack of fire and emergency vehicle access was indeed a problem particularly since the upslope portion adjacent to homes on Adelbert Ave still had not been cleared of brush.  The next day, brush clearance was done.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #3, September 22, 2016. The fence seemed more designed to illicit a buzz, get free PR for a rather gentrifying project on Riverside Drive, between Gilroy and Clearwater.  And yes, I say this after speaking to the architect for the Riverside Drive lots.  He told me the fence was intended to prevent dumping and protect the trees they're going to plant BEFORE they start grading.  Right.  Before. 

We'll revisit the fence tomorrow.

Red Car Property: Brush Clearance Around New Fence

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, September 24, 2016.  The first photos of the day showed workers clearing brush from slope between Adelbert and  the new fence on the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

It's almost October and the brush clearance is just getting done now?  Brush clearance should have been done on the Red Car Property May 1, just like the rest of the Hillside area.  Even the fire further south on the property in June did not prompt the Red Car Property owner to get the brush clearance done on the rest of the property.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1. September, 24. 2016.  Brush clearance is always miserable for neighbors because of the fugitive dust.  This "dust" carries not only bacteria, but also mold spores that can cause serious bronchial and upper respiratory infections.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, September 24, 2018. When the fugitive dust turns into a dust storm, it's not healthy for anyone. 

Red Car Property Neighbor #2, September 24, 2016. Friday, I spoke to the architect for the Riverside Drive lots (the property line is about 20 to 30 feet below this large Coast Live Oak Tree).  He said they fenced-in the slope above the Riverside Lots so they could plant it.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #2. Since so many trees have been removed in the past 2 years, neighbors watched closely when they were cutting branches from a large protected California Black Walnut and Coast Live Oak.

Rumors swirled around the neighborhood and Next Door that they were "cutting the oak tree."  According to neighbors and their photos, it just looks like branches were trimmed.  Lets hope safe horticulture was practiced so they didn't spread the disease/fungus/pests that have been killing many species of trees throughout the neighborhood.

Once again, Red Car Property Neighbors are on top of things as they happen, even if I've not been on top of the blog lately.  However, as soon as the first brush clearance photos came in, they were posted to our Twitter feed: @RedCarProperty

When we are able to verify the Riverside Drive Lots developer's statements regarding the fence with the Red Car Property owner,  we'll bring you the info here. 

Red Car Property: Fence

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 23, 2016.  Yes, there's a fence across the Red Car Property.  And yes, the homeless guy still lives in the white truck parked in front of the fence on the Red Car Property.  Look, they left us a path to walk around on the upslope side of the fenced area.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

I've been inquiring as to what the heck is going on.  The fence was put up by the developer of the Riverside Drive lots.   I'm delaying posting news until I've verified information.  The more facts come in; the more questions come up.   So for right now you're getting photos.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 23, 2016.  Thanks to our ever vigilant neighbors, this is the most documented fence ever. Keep up the good work!  

Please send Red Car Property photos and any wildlife photos taken in the neighborhood if there is any wildlife left: redcarproperty@gmail.com.  I'll be posting photos and lengthy news here on the blog.  Photos (not always the same) and alerts are posted to our Twitter feed as they come in: @RedCarProperty

Please remember, I don't get paid to do this.   The Red Car Property is my albatross.
 

Red Car Property: Fence Across Trail, Neighbors Grab Photos When It Looks Like A Land Grab*

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #1, September 22, 2016.  Almost simultaneously, I received photos from several neighbors of the north end of the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Hearing loud construction noise too close to home, neighbors immediately grabbed their phones and took photos.  They discovered a chain link fence being put up across the Red Car Property.  It appeared as if the owner of the downslope Riverside Drive lots, currently being graded for construction, were taking the Red Car Property in a land grab.

Photo: Red Car Neighbor #2, September 22, 2016.  Since workers were removing the fence at the the top of the slope, which was an earlier attempted taking by a previous landowner of the Riverside Drive lots, this seemed like a really big land grab.  Quite a few emails landedcame in asking if there was a deal with the Red Car Property to develop the Red Car Property. Good question.

Photo: Red Car Neighbor #2, September 22, 2016.  It's so much easier when I get photos from multiple neighbors, to put together the big picture since we all have different perspectives on the property. The developer appears to have left us a path on the upslope side of the fence

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #3, September 22, 2016.  The fence arrived on a big flat bed truck.  

It still looks like they're either making a big land grab or planning on using the Red Car Property for staging and construction of the Red Car Property.  Either option is not acceptable and we've made inquiries.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #3, September 22, 2016.  By midday, the fence was complete and locked with a chain.  There was a narrow walkway adjacent to the fence. The fence blocked the flat part of the lot.  The fence does not extend further upslope.  They appear to have taken way more than the 20-30 feet of slope many downslope neighbors have taken elsewhere on the Red Car Property. It looks a little more like 70 feet back from the rear property line of the Riverside Drive lots.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor #3.  Neighbors are understandably nervous, since the upslope portion of the Red Car Property still was not cleared of brush.  Many watched on TV and on line as the LAFD battle a 6 acre fire in Elysian Park the same afternoon.  

The gate is not the type of fire gate LAFD generally approves on fire roads in Hillside Areas.  (Think of every heavy steel gate you see across entrances to trails/fire roads in Griffith Park and Elysian Park.)

We've made inquiries with CD13, the Red Car Property owner's rep and the developer of the Riverside Drive lots. We'll be posting updates here on the blog.  

*This post was actually published 9-26-16, and backdated because I don't get paid to do this and other commitments have limited my time. Due to the rapidly changing landscape of the Red Car Property Neighborhood, I'm backdating posts with photos when there is significant reason to match the date of the news and photos for future reference.  There will always be a disclaimer like this on backdated posts.  I apologize for any confusion this causes our daily readers.  No, we are not on Facebook.  Photos and alerts get published quickly on our Twitter feed: @RedCarProperty

Riverside Drive: Grading Project Leaves 1 Black Walnut Tree On Adjacent Red Car Property

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 18, 2016.   The developer for the 8 (or 13) Riverside Drive lots below the Red Car Property left one protected Black Walnut Tree on the Red Car Property when they were grading well beyond the property line, right up to and around the large protected Coast Live Oak Tree.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2016.  Earlier this summer, neither the Red Car Property nor the Riverside Drive lot owner had done brush clearance by May 1, like responsible hillside property owners.  Little did we know, every tree in this shot, despite their protected status, would be gone by mid-August.

Worth noting in the second photo, according to the Riverside Drive developer's property line stakes that had been in the ground and updated several times in the past few years, the dead Eucalyptus is on the Red Car Property.  The Coast Live Oak is the dark green tree in the upper right corner, is also on the Red Car Property.  Almost all the other bright green trees are California Black Walnuts that had grown back after earlier removals without permits. 

As I've said before, the City's Protected Native Tree Ordinance is a joke.  The point of protecting specific native species is because they are integral to the hillside habitat.  Razing and entire ecosystem, building on almost every inch of available hillside lot and planting a couple of 15 gallon trees in a graded slope, hoping they'll grow really isn't responsible urban forest management. 

Red Car Property: Becoming Less Park-Like Every Day

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016.  The developer of 13 lots on Riverside Drive left not only a denuded hillside, grading and further taking out trees on the downslope side of the Red Car Property, but also deposited a giant tree stump pulled out of the ground and left on the Red Car Property.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016.  Earlier in the day, neighbors sounded the alarm when the backhoe was digging right up against the protected Coast Live Oak Tree's trunk.  The Red Car Property line is 20 - 30 feet downslope from the flat part of the Red Car Property.  Clearly,  the Riverside Drive developer moved earth around, well beyond the rear property of the Riverside Drive lots.  

By the end of the day Saturday, concrete posts (reinforced with rebar) that marked the property lines since the dawn of the Big Red Car Trolleys (1905) had disappeared.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016.  Looking in the opposite direction from the oak tree, things are even more bleak.  We'll take a closer look at those trees in coming days.   Here too, the property line is 20 to 30 feet downslope. But the slope has been changed significantly so who knows where the line is anymore.

Riverside Drive: Neighbors Question Grading Project As It Crosses Onto Red Car Property

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016.  Saturday morning, neighbors let me know the developer of the Riverside Drive lots (between Gilroy and Clearwater) was moving earth perilously close to the Protected Coast Live Oak Tree. The Coast Live Oak is on the Red Car Property. Checking the Building & Safety website, I saw no grading permits issued for either of the two adjacent Red Car Property lots.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

The Red Car Property line is about 20 to 30 feet downslope from the flat part of the Red Car Property as well as the oak tree.  In the photo above, the backhoe is working on the edge of the flat part. So the Riverside Drive developer was definitely moving earth around the Red Car Property.

The ancient concrete post property line markers, in place since at least the dawn of the Big Red Car Trolleys, marked the rear property line of the Riverside Drive Lots where they back into the Red Car Property. They're about 3' tall and 4" square.  Whenever these lots have been surveyed, the new property line markers line up with the concrete property marker posts.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 27, 2016.  Last month, neighbors were alarmed when a developer began clear cutting trees on 13 vacant lots on Riverside Drive adjacent to the Red Car Property.  

The most consistent comment I'm hearing from neighbors about the Riverside Drive/Gilroy development is, "How is it possible they didn't need approval from the City [Planning] for this?"  I'd like to know that too.  It appears that by submitting applications for building permits for each of 8 lots separately, they seem to have snuck in under the radar for hillside grading and retaining walls.  (There seems to be a question of lot ties and parcel map cases because there are actually 13 legal substandard lots they're using for 14 units, but they only submitted 8 or 9 lots, and I'm not seeing lot ties.)

If you've ever lived near a construction site - you know there are environmental impacts like the constant vibration during grading.  I wonder how much damage the hundred year old homes next door will incur on this not so stable slope.

With no discretionary actions by City Planning (i.e., size of retaining walls, height, setback, parking, yard variances) there was no public review.  Thus, the protected native tree removal permits were issued in August this year, prior to granting grading and retaining wall permits. (It's not clear if grading permits have been issued on all the lots yet.)  

In practice, granting protected tree removal permits prior to issuing grading and retaining wall permits is just poor urban forest management.  Grading is the single most important decision that dictates how things are designed and built on hillside lots.  So often, we see lots sit denuded of trees for decades, before someone comes along willing to throw enough money at it to build it.  Even then, it doesn't always get built.  That is one reason the City's Protected Native Tree Ordinance was favored by environmental and neighborhood groups.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 24, 2016. Earlier this year, neighbors were happy seeing many of the protected California Black Walnut Trees growing back after the last tree carnage in 2014.  When you live so close to a freeway, EVERY TREE MATTERS.

It appears the City, in its rush to streamline the building permitting process, is ignoring the fact that Hillside development is not always urban infill (redevelopment).  This is greenfield development (lots in a natural state supporting wildlife) that actually attach to a known wildlife corridor (the Red Car Property).  There was a thriving protected native tree habitat on the 13 lots before the developer began cutting down trees without permits (apparently without much of a penalty) 2 years ago.

Clearly this 8/13 lot project is one project, involving a lot of grading between the already built lots on Riverside Drive. 

Related: Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Wants To Clean Up Riverside Drive (Yes, you should always ask "Why and who is sponsoring it?")

Riverside Drive: Grading Project Endangers Coast Live Oak On Red Car Property

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor September 17, 2016.  A backhoe was digging and pushing earth around, right up against the huge and healthy protected Coast Live Oak Tree on the Red Car Property this morning. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor September 17, 2016.Within minutes of sending photos to the Red Car Property owner's rep, he responded saying they called the developer who said "they didn't touch the tree."  A Red Car Property rep was en route to the scene.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 17, 2016.  The property line is about 20 to 30' downslope from the Coast Live Oak Tree.  The oak tree is on the Red Car Property.  It is one of the few protected native trees left on this portion of the  Red Car Property.  The Riverside Drive developer cut down the protected black walnuts on the Red Car Property without permits. 

He had permits to cut down protected native trees on Riverside Drive lots, not on Red Car Property lots.

2 Freeway: Landscape Project? Do We Dare Hope For Trees?

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, September 14, 2016.  CalTrans installed a solar panel to power their irrigation project they've been working below the log cabins on Corralitas Drive.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, August 30, 2016.  Neighbors were wondering why CalTrans was digging loudly around the one Coast Live Oak Tree on the Corralitas side of the 2 Freeway for the past few weeks.  Vlahakis noticed that is was an irrigation project. 

Neighbors hope it means CalTrans will be planting trees on the 2 Freeway.  I wouldn't hold my breath.  Back in the early 1990s, CalTrans cut down all but 3 trees north/east of Rosebud on the Corralitas side of the 2 Freeway for an earlier "irrigation project."  In the 1990s, pleas to replace the trees to CalTrans fell on deaf ears. 

It was only after neighbors asked then Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa for help that CalTrans returned to plant some small shrubs instead of trees. What did we get?  Before Villaraigosa left the Assembly, we got mostly Peruvian Oleander, a pathetic yellow-flowering bush that never got much taller than 4'. Discussions with a CalTrans rep (shortly after the  Silver Lake Fire) indicated that's what they'd be planting again. 

Red Car Property, Riverside Drive: Black Walnuts Made A Brief Comeback

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 6, 2016.  The protected native Black Walnut Trees that were mostly chopped down a year earlier, had staged a comeback by summer 2016.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 9, 2015.  A year ago, after brush clearance on both the Red Car Property and the 13 Riverside Lots below, the future was not looking so good for the protected native Black Walnuts.  The trees suffered through years of drought, combined with overzealous or perhaps intentional butchering of the new growth around the old stumps of the Black Walnut Trees butchered in 2014.  And yet the Red Car Property owner could not bother to take down the dead Eucalyptus that had been alive in summer 2013.  The Eucalyptus, Coast Live Oak and everything upslope from the property line marker, is on the Red Car Property.

Red Car Property, Riverside Drive: Protected Native Trees In 2014

Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 17, 2014. Days before the first round of tree carnage in August 2014, the Riverside Drive lots below the Red Car Property were pretty park like with dozens of protected California Black Walnut Trees.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Today, the large Coast Live Oak Tree (the large dark green tree on the right) is pretty much the only tree left in this shot.  The oak tree is on the Red Car property which extends 20 - 30' downslope. 

The Riverside Drive lots, roughly between Gilroy and Clearwater, were cleared of trees last month, are in various stages of plancheck, yet grading appears to have begun.

Red Car Canyon: Jabba The Squirrel

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 19, 2016.  There always seems to be at least one obese squirrel with a bad attitude living in Red Car Canyon. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Jabba The Squirrel doesn't so much scamper through the densely forested section of the Red Car Property, as he lumbers through.  Before the Silver Lake Fire, I'd often see him lying on one of the branches of the now dead, non-native walnut tree.

Perhaps since the Silver Lake Fire and subsequent tree decimation on the south end of the property and the 2 Freeway, Jabba is more secretive in his whereabouts.  He would be a feast for the local Red Tailed Hawks.

Red Car Property: Not A Park, Not A Road

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, August 30, 2016.  The Red Car Property is not a public road despite several mapping services identifying it as "Silver Lake Court."  Silver Lake Court does not extend this far.  It is a land locked paper street that has never been built, existing only on City maps, only connecting to two public staircases, Roselin and Silver Lake Ave.  Silver Lake Court does not intersect India Street.

Neighbors report trucks for the 13 Riverside Drive lots currently being graded (off camera to the right), were driving on and off the Red Car Property last week.  If you live off the Red Car Property, on Riverside, Adelbert or India St (east of the Red Car Property) and are seeing a number of trucks using the Red Car Property for access to 2344-2424 Riverside Drive, report it to Building & Safety.  This is not an acceptable "haul route."

Worth noting in the lower right corner of the above photo: the blue bin of trash has been migrating around Lot C of the Red Car Property for quite some time.

Red Car Property: Not A Park, Not A Road, Protected Native Trees Are In Danger

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, August 30, 2016.  Many people don't know what an oak tree looks like.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

There's a beautiful Coast Live Oak hanging on to the Red Car Property slope above the 13 lots that were just cleared of all trees on Riverside Drive.  The Coast Live Oak Tree is near the border of Lot C and the next lot north on the the Red Car Property.

Neighbors report the arundo was cut down, in addition to a lot of tree trimming in this section of the Red Car Property over the holiday weekend.

The developer of the 13 Riverside Drive lots also cut down some trees on the Red Car Property.  The City did not issue permits to cut down protected native Coast Live Oaks nor California Black Walnuts on the Red Car Property.  The Red Car Property extends about 20 to 30' feet downslope toward Riverside Drive.

According to a review on the Building & Safety website, of the 13 lots on Riverside Drive - of the 8 lots with building permits pending - 6 have permits to remove protected native trees.  There were no discretionary actions by City Planning involved.  I don't know if additional homes are planned or if, because they are substandard lots, lots are being combined to build larger homes. 

There is no public review when there are no discretionary actions by City Planning.  Discretionary actions include, but are not limited to, zone changes; subdivisions; condo conversions; parking, height and yard variances.  The City has been streamlining the building and city planning process, making it easier for developers to build faster, involving less public review and creating more impact on the native habitat and neighbors in both short and long term.

Riverside Drive: You Never Know What's Under There Until You Start Digging

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 1, 2016.  Wonder if they'll find the 8' diameter concrete conduit a former Riverside Drive resident used for target practice of military grade automatic weapons, as recently as the mid-1990s, before he got busted.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 24, 2016.  Until a few weeks ago, the lots looked more like this.  The graffiti wall hiding behind the now since removed protected native California Black Walnut, but is visible behind the no parking sign in the first photo above. 

Red Car Property: Red Shouldered HawksWhy Trees Matter

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 21, 2016. As I walked south on the Red Car Property from the historic landmark viaduct footings, I heard the telltale sound of a mockingbird harassing a predator.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)  

If you want to see more hawks, learn the pissed off calls of mockingbirds.  This one chased a Red Shouldered Hawk to a branch high in a tree on Lot C of the Red Car Property.  I watched as the mockingbird dive bombed the hawk and hopped from branch to branch of a tree that had not resprouted leaves this spring.  The little bird was fearless and relentless in its noisy display.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 21, 2016.  While the mockingbird focused the bulk of its energy on the hawk near the top of the tree, it kept diving into the dense branches at the center of this clump of trees.  At this time of year, that could mean a recently fledged hawk was hanging around in the relative safety of the trees.  

If you walk the Red Car Property regularly, you know how narrow this trail passageway is.  I didn't see the second hawk until I was within 10' of the trees. The bright backlighting worked in the hawk's favor, as the feathers on its back and wings look like dappled light coming through the leaves.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 21, 2016.  I felt privileged to witness a Red Shouldered Hawk so close, at eye level.  Both hawks kept an eye on me and my on-leash dog as I snapped photos blindly, hoping to catch a good shot.  Sadly, this was the best I could do. 

I don't know if it was a mated pair or one or two recently fledged Red Shouldered Hawks. In the past few years, we've documented Red Shouldered Hawks on the north end of the Red Car Property almost exclusively.

The north end of the Red Car Property is Red Shouldered Hawk territory, most likely because it is the closest urban forested area to the LA River in our neighborhood. Unfortunately, with such a large swath of trees clear cut from the adjacent Riverside Drive lots, as well as a portion of the Red Car Property, it remains to be seen if Red Shouldered Hawks will continue calling the Red Car Property home.

Learn more about Red Shouldered Hawks: Cornell University's All About Birds

Most of the time, we've seen Red Shouldered Hawks in California Black Walnut trees.  
Click here for all our Red Shouldered Hawk posts.