The Corralitas Red Car Property was a private right-of-way through Silver Lake (Los Angeles) for the Pacific Electric interurban streetcar. The “Big Red Cars” ran until 1955 when the Glendale Line was decommissioned for freeway construction. For more than 40 years, a series of developers tried and failed to develop the Corralitas Red Car Property. It's not a park, it just looks like one.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 30, 2017. Dry weeds are taller and more dense than they were just a year ago. Although the trees are recovering from the 2016 Silver Lake Fire. Note the dry brush on the slope. Neighbors are asking, once again, "How do the large lot owners get away without doing brush clearance by May 1, EVERY YEAR?" (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 17, 2016. A month before the June 19, 2016 fire, the dry weeds on the flatter part were sparse and the dry brush on the slope was mashed downand not as thick as normal years due to the lack of rain.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 30, 2017. Dry brush is taller and more dense than just one year ago on the Corralitas end of the Red Car Property. Since the Red Car Property owner has a long history of failure to do brush clearance by May 1, if at all, we've been reminding CD13 of the issue for the past few months. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 21, 2016. A year ago, conditions were much the same. Although there were more trees up on the hill of Corralitas Drive.
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, June 19, 2016. Relentless water drops from helicopters and hand crews put a stop to the fire that damaged two homes on Corralitas Drive. In the weeks after the Silver Lake Fire, many of the trees dried out, looking terrible, only to recover in 2017 (see first photo)
Photo: Gary Vlahakis, June 19, 2016. Firefighters stopped the Silver Lake Fire in the middle of the canyon with endless water drops from helicopters, followed up with wildland fire crews and water from the ground level. Neighbors had been complaining in writing, with photos, to CD13 and LAFD Brush Clearance Unit for at least a month before the fire. The dry grass and high winds (that come up every afternoon from the 2 Freeway), spread the fire quickly north on property. It burned right up to homes on Lake View Ave, Silver Ridge Ave and Corralitas Drive while simultaneously burning northbound on the 2 Freeway toward the 5 Freeway. (Several homes suffered some damage.)
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, April 28, 2017. After more than 24 inches of rain this rain year, it would be easy to blame the rain for this skinny but apparently healthy pine tree in Red Car Canyon, near the public access easement trail down to Riverside Place. (Click on photos to enlarge.) In fact, I thought this tree would have died last summer or been removed when the LAFD contractor did brush clearance in December.
However, while combing my files for similar photos, the tree has been in this position for a number of years. More interesting, is the ever changing landscape around the tree. Very few native trees are growing in the canyon area. However if you look up on the slopes, beneath the larger trees, you'll see smaller protected native California Black Walnuts and Coast Live Oaks as well as recently proposed for protection, native Blue Elderberry and Toyon.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, December 12, 2016. LAFD Contractor did brush clearance and took down a large number of dead and dying trees in the canyon, but left the leaning pine tree. Its crown was still green, despite its awkward position.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, December 11, 2016. Lots of trees were taken down or trimmed back.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, October 9, 2016. In 26 years, I had never seen more dead and dying trees in the canyon. Trees that did not burn in last year's fire, in just a few months, had succumbed to a variety of problems amplified by the fire and 5 years of unprecedented drought.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, May 19, 2016. After five years of unprecedented drought, and one month before the fire, Red Car Canyon was still green. It's hard to comprehend that even though the fire was stopped 100' away, it toasted all many of these trees.Even days before the fire, the canyon was green.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, September 23, 2014. A year earlier, the bamboo and other dry brush were freshly dumped.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 21, 2013. Red Car Property neighbors and friends celebrated Make Music LA Day at the Charles Lacey Memorial. The leaning tree is not the first one, but it's in the background (arrow pointing to it.) Sadly, the tree at the Lacy Memorial was cut down in December 2016 by the LAFD contractors. It was one of many that was already suffering from 5 years of extreme drought prior to the June 19, 2016 fire.
Diane Edwardson, June 15, 2012. Green trees, dumping and the leaning tree, so what else is new?
January 15, 2010. Until 2016, the only way you could tell the difference in photos between January and June, was the color of the grass.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, April 10, 2009. The leaning tree had a markedly different angle in 2009.
Photo: Diane Edwardson, August 6, 2008. The trees were so dense and green,you could barely make out the leaning tree. Clearly this has always been a favorite dumping spot since it was hidden from the neighboring upslope homes by the dense tree canopy.
Video: Corralitas Neighbor, May 23, 2017. Suspecting potential illegal dumping of an uncovered load of dirt, a neighbor followed a large dump truck from Rosebud to the Corralitas Red Car Property. When the driver saw the neighbor filming him, he turned around and sped off.
Corralitas Neighbor's video shows so much in about a minute's time, I'm just going to make a list...
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 12, 2017. Some upslope neighbors did their brush clearance by May 1. Understandably, it appears at least one went overboard clearing well past the property line. (The power lines, halfway up the hill, are at the property line to the Red Car Property.) Many of the protected native Black Walnuts and Coast Live Oaks are recovering from last year's fire, including trees LAFD's contractors cut down (that were not dead) 6 months after the fire.
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 5, 2017. The dead tree still had its crown a week earlier. Ironically, May 8, three days after this photo was taken, CalTrans sent me email confirmation that the fence had been fixed here on a complaint I'd made November 3, 2016, regarding fence damage between Rosebud/Corralitas and Allesandro Way/Lake View Ave. I guess if they can't see it from their trucks, the problem doesn't exist.
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 12, 2017. A number of neighbors are alarmed the homeless guy's live doves appear to have been painted or dyed red and pink. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 12, 2017. Several neighbors contacted me over the past few days saying the doves were now red. Two took photos. All were advised to call the City's Animal Abuse Task Force. One neighbor wrotein an email, "The birds do not look well at all, especially the red one. I understand this guy is homeless and has issues, but it's not these poor birds fault."
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 12, 2017. Neighbors were already concerned for the doves' well being as their cage was too small for them to move much or stretch their wings. Painting or dying the helpless birds has really crossed the line.
The homeless guy has tested the patience of Corralitas Drive neighbors since early January.
*May 19, 2017 UPDATE: LA City Dept of Animal Services determined the doves were dyed with a hair dye like one used on dogs. Thus there was no crime nor animal abuse. At the same time Animal Services met with the homeless guy on site, LAPD SLO Lenny Davis, and PATH outreach workers once again offered him services and once again, he refused, preferring to remain on the sidewalk.
Neither the City nor CalTrans takes care of the sidewalk adjacent to the 2 Freeway. But then, it's not a real sidewalk, despite the City building ADA compliant ramps at all the intersections on Allesandro in the 1990s. It's still a narrow strip of asphalt in a curb. The lack of street addresses prevent all but the most persistent neighbors from getting dumping removed by the City. Weeds, trash, dumping and telephone poles blocking the extremely narrow sidewalk are a challenge for any pedestrian. CalTrans insists the "sidewalks" adjacent their freeways are the City's responsibility. If
homeowners are supposed to maintain the sidewalk adjacent to their
homes, shouldn't CalTrans have the same responsibility?
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 5, 2017. Some neighbors are concerned about the homeless guy's new pets - a pair of live doves in a cage far too small for the birds. The cage is on the ground to the right of the couch. (Click on photo to enlarge.) Neighbors are fed up. A few raised concerns regarding animal neglect or cruelty with regard to the 2 doves kept in a cage that is barely big enough for one canary.
However, neighbors are far more frustrated by the City's inability to move the homeless guy and his belongings out of our only vehicle access route on and off the hill. In the past 6 weeks, a number of neighbors close to the tunnel on Rosebud, expressed anger over the homeless guy stealing electricity and water. Several have chased him off their property when he attempted to charge a half dozen electronic devices plugged into a power strip at once. LAPD advised neighbors to lock their water and electrical outlets in lockboxes, in addition to filing police reports of trespassing.
Regardless of whether or not the homeless guy is involved with the recent uptick in burglaries or mail theft in the neighborhood, he is the target of neighbors' ire. It doesn't help that he makes no attempt to conceal when and where he urinates on the street. (It's not a crime, but have some respect for your neighbors, dude.) A number of women have told me they no longer feel safe walking through the tunnel on Rosebud because of the homeless guy. They also no longer allow their children to walk through the tunnel either. If we have to move cars parked on a City street every 72 hours, why should the homeless be allowed to reside on the same patch of city sidewalk for more than 72 hours? His camp has been there continuously (with the exception of 3 hours) since the beginning of January. Background: February 17, 2017 March 24, 2017
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor May 2, 2017, 6:15 PM. The cats do not get to eat outside. Why?
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 2, 2017, 6:30 PM. The Little Skunk has long been a fixture in this yard. She used to hang out with the semi-feral cat, even leaving her babies with him to babysit while she went on her foraging rounds.
Most responsible hillside homeowners got their brush clearance done by May 1, prompting the Corralitas Rain Gauge Monitor to complain, "I can hear the f'n weeds slurping up the water and all the seeds about to pop!"
Photo: Diane Edwardson, July 19, 2009. The Big Parade walked through the same section of the property in JULY. Almost all the trees on both sides of the trail (for the length of the hikers' line in this shot) were California Black Walnuts. Now the walnuts are fighting back with other native and non-native trees.
Photo: Gary Macheel, April 2017. After hot and dry conditions for days, it's hard to believe fog is forecast for Thursday morning and possible rain for Saturday. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, May 2, 2017, after midnight. CalTrans lit up the entire neighborhood. It's so bright, you can see the dry brush on the Red Car Property in the foreground.) One neighbor said it was so bright, "I could've done shadow puppets." (Click on photo to enlarge.) It wasn't just bright, one Corralitas neighbor remarked, "It was annoyingly LOUD!! The pounding!!"
Sound walls would have only helped 6 of the eight houses on the south end of Corralitas. If you are above the line of sight of the wall, as 90% of the neighborhood is, sound travels up and sound walls don't help. However, this is cruel and unusual punishment for the 8 homes less than 50' from the southbound lanes of the 2 Freeway, particularly since last summer, when CalTrans cut down all the trees that previously blocked the view of the freeway.
The least CalTrans could do is put up temporary sound baffling when there are homes within 100 feet of the freeway. Additionally, give notice to neighbors within a 500 foot radius that bright and noisy work would be happening on specific days/nights.
Photo: Corralitas Neighbor, May 1, 2017. After weekend brush clearance, a neighbor's cats turned the yard into their own killing fields, sharing three gophers with their owner in the past two mornings.
Hawks, like the cats, are more frequently seen hanging around lots where brush clearance is being or was recently done. Look for Red Tailed Hawks sitting on tree branches, tops of telephone poles or even the railing of your deck, intently watching something on the nearby lot lot. (Yes, we have very urban hawks.) The hawks' backs are usually to the sun, so the prey is temporarily blinded when the hawk swoops in for the kill. Corralitas neighbors have long witnessed this hunting behavior. We've even seen hawks drop in for a kill, while workers were still weed whacking the lot. A few of us have actually been used by the hawks as we walked the Corralitas Public Staircase. The hawks were using humans to screen for them, often only changing course slightly around the human's head then dropping back in to the human's shadow. Both Red Tails and a few Cooper's Hawks have used this technique hunting near the Corralitas Public Staircase. They're also careful to time their descent when the person is either distracted or has their back to the hawk. This is a brilliant adaptation of hunting technique in our urban hillside neighborhood.
Its usually around this time of year when hawks' eggs are hatching. They to feed rapidly growing chicks (in an area where almost every vacant lot has been built) the successful hawks adapted.
Community Residents’ Association for Parks is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed in 1997 by our Silver Lake neighborhood. We are dedicated to acquisition and preservation of the Corralitas Red Car Property as a park in partnership with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
Contact: redcarproperty@gmail.com
