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By Mike Gervais
Register Staff
12-4-2008 With 4 percent of Inyo County’s land in the hands of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, a move by the utility to purchase even more property has ruffled the feathers of some Southern Inyo residents.
The LADWP is looking at 100 acres of land in the Oak Creek area of Independence, but several citizens have said they would like to see the property, which is in a residential zone, used for private development and homes that would help sustain the local economy.
Those individuals have banded together and, armed with a petition, hope to convince the Inyo County Board of Supervisors, LADWP and the public in general that the parcels are best suited for residential use.
“DWP owns over 250,000 acres in Inyo County, constituting almost four percent of its land and water surface. However, looking specifically at Owens Valley from Lake Crowley to Haiwee Reservoir (approximately 100 miles in length and an average of 15 miles wide), DWP can be said to own approximately 25 percent of the valley floor,” the petition states. “It is also well known that the percentage of private ownership in Inyo County is extremely low, less than one-half of what DWP possesses.”
The LADWP is not in the real estate business, but it does have an obligation to provide enough water to quench the growing thirst of Los Angeles. To do that, the utility needs property and water rights.
“If we have an offer made to us, which is what happened here, the city has an obligation to look into it,” said LADWP Public Relations Manager Chris Plakos. “We’re not in the business of buying property, and we haven’t been for a number of years.”
Lone Pine residents Scott Palamar and Jennifer Castaneda are spearheading the effort to keep the Oak Creek parcel available for residential development. The petition, drafted by Palamar, has received some attention from concerned citizens, and has 39 “legitimate signers,” Palamar said.
“I think these people don’t want to see less private land in Inyo County,” Palamar said.
Palamar, who moved to Inyo County from Southern California earlier this year, said that, despite many vacations and other trips to the area, “I didn’t even realize how businesses have been closing, the population has been dropping – it’s not a good picture. There is no vision of a sustainable community for the future.”
Castaneda and Palamar began their crusade to inform community members of the possible loss of property that could sustain 44 homes in early fall, but, with family career obligations, the duo has not been able to follow up on the petition until recently.
The next move, Palamar said, is to get in touch with the Inyo County Board of Supervisors to discuss the impact LADWP purchasing the property could have on the county’s General Plan.
“The general consensus is that this needs to go before the Board of Supervisors,” Palamar said. “There are sections in the county’s own plan that say LADWP should not increase its net holding” of property. “It’s my goal to go before the Board of Supervisors and review the essence of this specific issue. I think the heads (of Inyo County and LADWP) need to get together. There has to be an agreement between LA and Inyo” that will keep private property available for development.
“The county has previously asked DWP to give up land, which it has done in tiny increments, insufficient to meet growth potential,” Palamar’s petition states. “Recently DWP put up some 75 acres for auction, but at their top-of-the-market reserve prices, only two parcels sold.”
The petition further claims that the LADWP can not sell any land it owns the water rights on without a two-thirds vote from Los Angeles residents. “So once DWP owns Oak Creek or any other land with water rights, it is unlikely to ever again be in private hands, and certainly not with water rights,” the petition said.
Palamar said that the issue is not that LADWP is looking at purchasing a new parcel, but that the area it has been looking at is a residential zone. “DWP does protect open space,” so if it decided to purchase another piece of property, that is not zoned for residential use, “there is no problem there, there would be no flack,” he said.
“There is a need for action here. The Owens Valley community is in a struggle for its livelihood, and must not allow Los Angeles to acquire one more square foot of property in the county without releasing at least the same amount of similarly zoned property for development,” the petition states.
“We’re in the process of releasing 75 acres” to the public, Plakos said. “Right now we’re identifying parcels that the residents would like to see released. Then we have to sell the land at auction. We’re looking at trying to do another auction next summer.”
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