Red Car Canyon: Mudwatch for Lake View Ave

Photos: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 12, 2023.  

Around the 6” of rain earlier this week brought predictable mudslides and a downed tree just north of the mudslide on the Lake View Ave side of Red Car Canyon.  This slope is Red Car Property up to the fence line.  There are public utility  easements along the property line.

The Red Car Property owner chopped down all the young trees on this slope and throughout the property without regard to size or species. There were a number of young protected Coast Live Oak and California Black Walnut trees that managed to recover from the 2016 fire.  While this slope did not burn it was severely damaged by the heat.  

Most of the shrub-like plants in the above photo are remnants of trees that keep trying grow back every year after brush clearance.  I speculate the total disregard for hillside ecosystems is intentional, as it is common developer tactic to kill off as many trees as possible through neglect or removal in advance of development application.  

Over 30 years, we’ve seen the slope slide below and around the sewer outlet (the round concrete feature topped with green spray paint, adjacent the large tree at the fence line in photo).

In recent years, City contractors replaced sewer lines in the slope along the property line between the Red Car Property and homes above on Lake View.

In 2009 the Red Car Property owner repaired a  2005 landslide on the Adelbert end of the Red Car Property. 

It is a very steep slope cut for the Red Car Trolley in 1904.  Since the tracks were removed in 1955, a forest of trees repopulated the slope.  

Red Car Canyon: First Tree Down

Photos: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 12, 2023.  

A large Eucalyptus tree went down on the Lake View Ave side of Red Car Canyon. 

We’ve seen a number of Eucalyptus go down in the same part of the canyon over the past 3 decades.  

Eucalyptus do not hold hillsides together like native Coast Live Oak, Black Walnut and Toyon.

  

 

Red Car Canyon: Swampy

Photos: Red Car Property Neighbor, January 12, 2023.  

Two days after a major storm dumped around 6” of rain on the neighborhood, Red Car Canyon was swampy but walkable.

Just stop driving through the canyon. The Red Car Property is not a park, but it still looks like one.

The pine tree leaning at a 45 degree angle has been been held up by another tree for decades.

Corralitas Red Car Property: Mudwatch

 Photos: Red Car Property Neighbor January 12, 2023.

Lake Corralitas and a familiar mudslide returned on the south end of the property.  The more things change, the more they stay the same. 

Red Car Property: Iconic California Black Walnut Tree Crashed Down

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, December 31, 2021.

In a fitting end to 2021, a huge protected native California Black Walnut Tree, growing on the Lake View Ave side of the Red Car Property, fell victim to this week's deluge.  As the species evolved to do, it survived decades of the drought/deluge pattern of Southern California weather. It was likely too much rain, too fast, on a steep slope, combined with run-off from the built hillside environment, to keep the beloved tree upright.  

Photo: Stephanie Bartron, May 2020.  

Oddly, I have admired the tree for three decades, but have surprisingly few photos of just this large tree. The Red Car Property is not a park, it just looks like one.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2009.

The native tree was so large and  among a long row of large trees, it was often difficult to single out just one tree.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2010.  

The healthy Black Walnut thrived behind a home at one of the lowest points of elevation of Lake View Ave. It took advantage of significant hillside run-off. It was couple of houses north of Rose Scharlin Nursery School.

Photo: Jonathan Vandiveer, 2016. 

A previous owner of the Lake View Ave house told me, the tree was a big reason they bought the house.  Despite knowing the tree was on the Red Car Property, they took care of it. They even hired a certified arborist/tree trimmer to maintain it, because the tree brought value to not only their home, but their lives.

Photo: Gary Vlahakis, December 31, 2021. Same tree, reverse angle.

Upon seeing today's photos, several neighbors had the same reaction as I did, "Noooooo!"  

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 10, 2016. 

The native Black Walnut towered over the trail on the Red Car Property.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, 2015.

The Red Car Property is not a park, it just looks like one.  We mourn the loss of another iconic native tree.

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Paul Landacre Cabin & Grounds, LA City Historic Cultural Landmark #839

 

Photo: Andrew Sears, 2005.    

In 2005, the City declared Paul Landacre's Cabin and grounds, at 2006 El Moran, a Cultural Historic Landmark. Landacre's work was influenced by and often depicted the neighborhood in his work.

 

Paul Landacre wrote about his life in the Echo Park hills in 1958, not so different from those who live in the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists' Tract today:

"You see, art is practiced here along with various other concerns -
pruning trees, repairing the roof, watching and feeding wildlife and so
on. Of course, other artists live on wooded hillsides, too, and so do
other people, and it must be conceded that to some of us this kind of
environment is not only valuable, but absolutely necessary - a degree of
seclusion, the life of growing things, awareness that we are a part of
nature."

Photo: Andrew Sears, 2005.

 

Landacre carved a petrel, his signature bird into the roof vents on each side of his house. He used the petrel as his trademark on his work, often in place of his signature.

Landacre struggled with physical disabilities most of his life. He identified with the petrel since they learn to fly by jumping off a cliff; falling into the raging sea; hurling themselves off the peaks of waves until they learn to fly. They crash into the rocks and waves, beat up, but they learn to fly.

*This post was originally published November 7, 2007, on our short-lived sister blog, Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  In an effort to connect neighbors across the 2 Freeway in our shared issues & development battles, we folded the Semi Tropic blog into the Corralitas Red Car Property Blog in 2009.

Corralitas Drive: Sad

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, June 5, 2020.

Yesterday evening, Corralitas Drive neighbors were disappointed to find the hastily constructed Red Car Property fence locked. The neighbor's 2-year-old son looks forward to the daily outings on the Red Car Property, as does the entire family.

For nearly 20 years, the Red Car Property owner has threatened to fence the entire property every time neighbors contact CD13 regarding brush clearance, dumping, homeless camps, joyriding, abandoned vehicles, general lawlessness, etc.  Considering the brush clearance was done early for what seems like the first time, we suspected a development application was pending.  We did not expect a fence.

There are currently no active applications or approvals for zone change or subdivision, and no building permit applications or approvals on file for the Red Car Property. No zone changes or subdivisions have been granted.

CD13 has requested additional information from City departments regarding neighbors' specific inquiries about easements, public safety and the adjacent DWP property fenced in this week at Riverside and Fletcher.

Follow us on Twitter @RedCarProperty for current updates and photos. 

Related: The Eastsider 

Red Car Property: Not A Park

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November15, 2017.  Sometimes, you just have to wonder how desperate we are for open space near our homes, that we're willing to put up with the construction fence that took more than half the width of the Red Car Property near Adelbert.  The fence went up over a year ago for a development on Riverside Drive that is not a part of the Red Car Property.

Red Car Property: Red Tailed Hawk Makes A Kill

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  One of the big Red Tailed Hawks ate  breakfast atop one of its favorite telephone poles on the Red Car Property.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  Moments earlier, a neighbor and I watched as the hawk launched itself with a couple of big flaps of its wings, from a tall tree on the Lake View side of the property, pulled its wings tight to its body and zoomed across the Red Car Property to a vacant lot on Corralitas Drive.  It was on the ground for a minute, before flying back with a bird in its talons, to a telephone pole on the Lake View side of the Red Car Property.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  If you look closely, the hawk is on top of the telephone pole with a bunch of doves perched on the surrounding high voltage wires (uppermost set of wires) on the telephone pole.  

Worth noting: the native Black Walnuts in the foreground are recovering from last year's fire.

Red Car Property: Leaky Pipe

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 15, 2017.  If you live on northern end of Lake View above the Red Car Property, you might want to check your backyard for leaky water or sewer lines.  The swath of bright green grass flowing downslope, way above the historic viaduct footings, indicates a problem. 

Native tree note: the small trees in the foreground and to the left of the green grass are protected native California Black Walnut trees.  They are currently dropping their leaves for winter.

Lake View Ave: Dead Pine Tree Removed

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 15, 2017.  The huge pine tree in a Lake View Ave backyard never recovered after the June 19, 2016 Silver Lake Fire.  The Red Car Property line runs along the power lines.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, November 30, 2017.  Thursday, the sounds of chainsaws caught the attention of neighbors as the tree was finally being cut down.  Neighbors had complained to LAFD Brush Unit as well as CD13 since before the May 1 deadline for brush clearance as nothing on the Lake View Ave lot, including the castor bean forest, was cleared this year.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, December 1, 2017.  By Friday they were chopping up what was left of the huge pine tree.

Video: Red Car Property Neighbor, December 1, 2017.  A better sense of scale is gained with the number of huge trunk slices laid out on  the Red Car Property.

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 201.  In case there was any doubt the big pine tree was dead, here's another angle.  

Worth noting: the native Coast Live Oak and California Black Walnut Trees were recovering on the Red Car Property, downslope from the power lines.  In fact, many of the protected native trees were cut down by LAFD brush contractors and overcautious homeowners in the past year and a half.  However, even the the native trees cut all the way to a stump are, for the most part recovering.  Black Walnuts are currently dropping their leaves for winter.

Corralitas Public Staircase: Wire Lettuce

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 17, 2017.  In all the years of shooting photos of Wire Lettuce, I never managed to catch one just freshly opened. The stigmas are still curled.

Click here for our other Wire Lettuce photos.

The Corralitas Red Car Property Blog prefers to quote reliable sources, such as CalFlora and California Poison Control on the issue of toxicity.  We often get email suggesting some plants are edible. If you are eating your way through the Red Car Property, we DO NOT recommend you eat any plant you find in the Red Car Property neighborhood without first doing your own research. 

Red Car Property: Marching Band

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, November 19, 2017.  Lake View Neighbors want to know, what's with the Fellini-esque marching band going up and down the Red Car Property late every Sunday afternoon?  Looks like they have drums, brass, at least one guitar and a flag girl or guy bringing up the rear.  

The neighbor who sent the photo says they're not really playing recognizable music, but they're a rag tag group, best described as "Fellini-ish."  Another neighbor speculated, "Maybe they're practicing for the Doo-Dah Parade."

Red Car Canyon: Shredding Trees, Spreading Dust, But What About Insects & Pathogens?

Red Car Canyon: hope you closed your windows before you went to work today- they're heading toward Riverside Pl now pic.twitter.com/B7Hq5mjsKZ

— Corralitas (@RedCarProperty) September 14, 2017

Video: Red Car Property Neighbor, September 14, 2017.  While it's technically OK per LAFD to spread the tree shred/mulch around to help retain moisture on the slopes, it's not exactly the best thing for air quality during the chipping or shredding.  There's also the question of spreading pathogens of the dead trees.

After consulting a neighbor who is a landscape designer, and reading up on some of the local insects and pathogens, I can wholeheartedly say, if you have a sick, dead or dying tree, consult a certified arborist.  This issue is way beyond my skill set to simplify beyond the following advice.  There are too many ways to infest/infect other trees depending on the insect and or pathogen, and you may be able to save your trees.  Your mature trees are an investment in not only your home's resale value, but also the future of our neighborhood and local air quality.

We've lost a lot of large trees in the neighborhood in the past few years.  Take care of your large and native trees.  Every tree counts.

Red Car Property: Brush Clearance Resumed Today

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor,  August 30, 2017.  Workers took a break from the insane heat and brush clearance on the slope below Lake View Ave, in the shade of a protected Native Black Walnut Tree.  It's hard to tell in this photo, but it looks like some more of the recovering Black Walnuts were chopped yet again.  

The Red Car Property line goes, roughly, along the power lines. 

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-31-17 and backdated to the date the photo was shot and originally published on Twitter.  It's our goal to catch up this weekend. 

Corralitas Red Car Property: Why Are LAFD Brush Clearance Fines The Same, No Matter The Size Of Your Lot?

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 4, 2017.  Neighbors are understandably nervous about fire on the Red Car Property. Weeds are taller and more dense than before the 2016 Silver Lake Fire.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 4, 2017.  Most  of the protected native Coast Live Oaks and California Black Walnuts are returning to the slopes.  Looks like there are still a few upslope neighbors on Lake View who still have not done their brush clearance.  You'd think after last summer's fire, they'd be the first to do brush clearance.  But then no one can believe the Red Car Property owner hasn't done the brush clearance yet.  

Perhaps part of the problem is the fines for failing to do brush clearance are the same - no matter what size lot you have - 5000 sq feet or 5 acres.  The fine from LAFD is per lot, not per square foot. You still have to pay for brush clearance, but you'd have to pay for brush clearance, whether or not you did it on time.  

Raise the potential fines for non-compliance on the large lot owners to encourage prompt brush clearance.  Track the non-compliant lot owners every year.  Each year the lot is fined for non-compliance, increase their penalties.   Prioritize the routine scofflaws.  

There is no incentive for large lot owners to take responsibility for their own property.  LAFD has the potential to bring in more fees from fining up to 135 adjacent lots, than from the 5 (or 6 according to APNs) lots of the Red Car Property.  There's not a lot of impetus for LAFD to red tag the Red Car Property owner, other than a fire starting  on or spreading via the Red Car Property, would endanger the whole neighborhood.   In 2016, 200 firefighters, wildland fire crews and a massive air assault (water dropping helicopters from at least 3 agencies) kept the 2016 Silver Lake Fire from becoming a major disaster. 

A neighbor ran into the LAFD Brush Inspector on site July 28, 2017.  The inspector said another notice to comply would be mailed to the owner. 

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 4, 2017.  The Red Car Property goes up to the telephone poles running across the middle of the slope.  In some cases the adjacent property owners cleared well beyond their property line.  

Unfortunately, last December, LAFD Brush Clearance contractors also took out a lot of native Black Walnuts when they did clearance.  Some very native large trees on this slope were cut down to the ground, even though they were recovering.  Most of the walnuts are recovering are coming back despite the butchery (the green shrub like plants midway up the slope on the left.)  There was no need to cut them down as they were already recovering from the fire.  Native trees are fire resistant.

Related: 
LAFD Brush Inspection Process 
All our brush clearance posts

Red Car Property: Not A Park, It Just Looks Like One

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 5, 2017.  Bounce house, parents, kids, cars, and amplified music between Lake View Ave and Riverside Place north of Rose Scharlin.  No brush clearance, but the protected native Black Walnut Trees are looking good.  The non-native invasive arundo is looking overgrown.

Note: We're playing catch up for the month of August. This was post was actually published 8-23-17 and backdated to the date the photo was shot and published on Twitter. 

Corralitas Drive: New Homeless Camper Next To Dry Brush Of Red Car Property

*Update, August 4, 2017 at end of post

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 1, 2017.  Tuesday morning, neighbors discovered a new camper/trailer parked next to the Red Car Property on Corralitas Drive.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Video: Red Car Property Neighbor, August 1, 2017.  First posted on Twitter, also available on YouTube.  Not only is the camper parked next to the dry brush of the Red Car Property, the sidewalk is blocked, there's a propane tank in front and what appears to be a bag of charcoal briquettes at the the back of the camper (see video below).  The white Saturn parked behind the camper, is associated with the squatters who recently abandoned their camp on the Red Car Property near Rose Scharlin. 

The protected native California Black Walnut Tree has recovered well from last year's Silver Lake Fire. 

Neighbors want to know why the Red Car Property owner always seems to get away with not doing brush clearance by May 1, every year.

Send your concerns about brush clearance, vehicle access and any other concerns regarding the Red Car Property to hector.vega@lacity.org in City Council District 13.  Include your name, street address and phone number.


*UPDATE: August 4, 2017, LAPD Senior Lead Officer Lenny Davis spoke to the woman living in the trailer yesterday.  The trailer was gone today.

Red Car Property North: Still Needs Brush Clearance

Photo: Jay Lieske, July 13, 2017. The grass is dry and mostly mashed down but not cleared between the construction fence and Fletcher on the Red Car Property.  Protected native Black Walnuts are repopulating the slope.  A number of trees died after five years of drought.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Photo: Jay Lieske, July 13, 2017.  The Red Car Property is between Riverside Drive and Fletcher and Adelbert Ave.  Adelbert is a substandard Hillside Street with a number of hairpin turns to reach Lake View Ave.  It has only one means of access.  We don't know why Adelbert is not a Red Flag No Parking street.

Photo: Jay Lieske, July 13, 2017.  A year ago, the construction site on Riverside Drive, directly below the Red Car Property, took a lot of the Red Car Property with their construction fence, in addition to clear cutting trees on the Red Car Property.  This is the pedestrian path they left us.  Last year, their agreement with the property owner was to do the brush clearance on both sides of their fence.

Photo: Jay Lieske, July 13, 2017.  The construction site appears to have done brush clearance on the portion of the Red Car Property behind their fence.  It also looks like a few native trees are returning and recovering to the flat portion of the Red Car Property above the construction site.

Neighbors have expressed concerns that the native saplings and recovering native trees should be preserved as the brush clearance contractors are not known for their care with young trees.  

As with other parts of the Red Car Property, neighbors want to know why the property owner is allowed to get away with not doing brush clearance by May 1, every year?

Click here for all our brush clearance posts.

Corralitas Red Car Property: No Trespassing Signs Appear. How About Red Tags?

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 2, 2017. No Trespassing signs appeared on the ground at the Corralitas end of the Red Car Property.  The signs neighbors wanted to see for the past 2 months are LAFD Red Tag notices for brush clearance.  The Red Car Property extends up to the telephone poles, running across the slope.

Photo: Red Car Property Neighbor, July 2, 2017.  This sign will not stop anyone.  

We've highlighted brush clearance issues on the Red Car Property for the past decade.  Click here for all our brush clearance posts.