Save Onteora Hill
As the Onteora Hillside Alliance, we strive to protect Onteora Hill, the last hillside open space in Eagle Rock, CA (Los Angeles). The 80+ year old Protected Live Oaks and our native Wildlife Corridor is threatened by attempts at rezoning and overdevelopment. We endeavor to see this land protected into perpetuity for the benefit of Eagle Rock residents as well as all Angelenos for generations to come.
We are a coalition of committed community members working with elected officials and other stakeholders to bring about the purchase of the land at 4875 West Onteora Way, Los Angeles CA, 90041, parcel #5683028026 (RE20) and #5683027010 (R1), for the public commons and to Save Onteora Hill!
EAGLE ROCK's Onteora Hill
Onteora Hill
Onteora Hill is a 4.3 acre corridor for our native wildlife and a natural habitat for 75+ Protected Coastal Live Oaks.
It is also an indigenous Kizh-Tongva/Tataviam historical landscape.
Onteora Hill provides a natural oasis in the heart of our urban sprawl. It should be shared with everyone, not flattened and demolished for a few.
how you can help
Sign our petition
Help us get to 5000 signatures!
Make your voice heard.
PLANT A YARDSIGN
Show your love for Onteora Hill!
Email us at [email protected]
to request yours now!
make a donation
100% of proceeds go directly
to Save Onteora Hill!
Join us on Facebook
Join the Onteora Hillside Alliance on Facebook and keep up with the latest news on our efforts to Save Onteora Hill!
take action
Follow our step-by-step guide
to take immediate action.
Spread the word
It takes a village!
Share Onteora Hill with your friends.
5 Reasons to save Onteora hill
1. EAGLE ROCK IS ALREADY PARK POOR.
Los Angeles ranks an embarrassing 74th out of the 100 largest cities in the U.S for park acreage per citizen. The closest park to Onteora Hill is a 1.5 mile walk over 30 minutes away, with others over 2 miles away and up to a 60 minute walk to any natural green space. Parks are critical spaces to engage in outdoor physical activity. The CDC reports that regular physical activity is one of the most important aspects of maintaining health and can reduce the risk of diseases like cardiovascular disease, depression, obesity, and even some types of cancer. The health benefits of park-related exercise also extend to children and teenagers. A study conducted on over 3,000 individuals in Southern California over an 8-year span found that children who lived closer to parks had significantly lower rates of obesity at age 18 than those who did not. Access to recreational programs was also shown to have a significant impact on reducing obesity.
2. Our Protected live oak trees can't be replaced.
The 4.3-acre property targeted for a subdivision development is on a ridge that contains a Live Oak woodland of 75 trees. The proposed developers want to cut down 29 to 40 city/state PROTECTED Live Oak Trees. Live Oak Trees are a keystone species – a species on which many other organisms in an ecosystem depend, such that if it were lost the ecosystem would change drastically. Preserving and enhancing The Onteora hillside would support Mayor Garcetti’s New Green Deal objective of planting and maintaining 90,000 trees to provide 61 million square feet of shade city wide by 2021. This counters the developer’s plan to CUT DOWN at least 29+ Live Oak trees and plant 18” samplings in their place. Oak trees take years to grow and are difficult to transplant thus robbing the local fauna of their habitat.
Removing so many Protected Live Oaks destabilizes the hillside which can lead to landslides from earthquakes and from rain. This places the homes directly downslope from Onteora Hill on Lockhaven Avenue and Yosemite Drive incredibly vulnerable to damage. There is already concrete reinforcements directly above the properties on Lockhaven that the city put in place in the 1960s. What more would be needed to protect them from the increased burden from over development and deforestation on Onteora Hill above them?
The Onteora Hillside in Eagle Rock is one of the remaining areas of undeveloped land to become an isolated “island” to the wild animals who will be pushed out of their natural habitats. The area is remotely linked to the eastern Santa Monica and directly to the western slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains. The open space corridor facilitates movement of coyotes and other wildlife between the foothills above Hill Dr., nearby Poppy Peak, Walnut Canyon, and some of the last remaining other green spaces in Northeast Los Angeles. The proposed development has seemingly by-passed a city ordinance that requires developers to build pathways or leave space through properties to serve wildlife corridors.
“Wildlife Corridors: Areas of open space of sufficient width to permit larger, more mobile species (such as foxes, bobcats and coyote) to pass between larger areas of open space, or to disperse from one major open space region to another are referred to as “wildlife corridors.” Such areas generally are several hundred feet wide, unobstructed, and usually possess cover, food and water. The upland margins of a creek channel, open ridgelines, open valleys or the bottoms of drainages often serve as major corridors.” — Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning
4. High Density, Modular, Luxury housing does not solve the housing shortage in Los Angeles.
“Development trends include preservation and rehabilitation of older single- family dwellings as well as of buildings of commercial and civic importance. Respect for the area’s strong architectural heritage is found in the design of many new buildings. Retaining open space, especially above the 134 freeway, and pleasant viewsheds are high priorities among residents, as is resistance to large multi-family and other out-of-scale development.” — Northeast Community Plan, Page 3
5. DEVELOPMENT ON Onteora Hill WILL CAUSE A MAJOR DISTURBANCE FOR hundreds OF RESIDENTS and potential future safety hazards.
The only access to Onteora Hill is via a small single entry/exit onto the property from a cul-de-sac, at Kerwin Place. To get to Kerwin Place you must take Yosemite Way, Wawona St or Round Top Drive — mostly narrow, sub-standard streets that are already congested, have limited parking and emergency vehicle access, are red flag streets and are not even wide enough for two cars to pass each other. Proposed “Y” turnarounds at the north and south ends of the development eliminate safe access and passage for large fire trucks, other emergency vehicles, and city-vehicles (trash, et al) in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
The geology of the undeveloped land, including steep terrain and earthquake-induced landslide areas, will require significant earth moving and engineering. Traffic congestion from trucks removing dirt and the noise of heavy equipment driving reinforcement piling deep into bedrock will present a major disruption to a neighborhood that was mostly developed in the early 1960s. Significant earth moving will also increase airborne dust and particles, irritating children and adults with asthma.
A VIEW TO THE FUTURE OF ONTEORA HILL
THE HISTORICAL & CULTURAL IMPORTANCE OF ONTEORA HILL
READ MORETHE EAGLE ROCK NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL
In January 2021, the ERNC and its advisory board the Land Use Committee both voted to OPPOSE the proposed development on Onteora Hill and has sent a Letter of Opposition to Councilmember Kevin de León of the 14th Council District and to The Los Angeles City Planning Commission.
