The Onteora Hillside alliance
-- Our Mission --
THE ONTEORA HILLSIDE ALLIANCE exists to ensure the character and quality of life in historic Eagle Rock by protecting the area’s last open hillside from overdevelopment. We endeavor to see this land protected into perpetuity for the benefit of neighbors, Eagle Rock residents and future generations; as well as for the Live Oaks, Sumac, coyotes, hawks and burrowing owls that reside within its wildlife corridor. This watershed and indigenous Tongva-Tataviam landscape should be preserved as a shared community resource that promotes public health, biodiversity and urban heat reduction in what is a LOW DENSITY, MULTI-CULTURAL and PARK-POOR area.
We are a coalition of committed community members working with elected officials and other stakeholders to bring about the purchase of this land for the public commons and ensure that it is not lost to overdevelopment.
Onteora Hillside Alliance advisory board
Ken Boros
Jennifer Campbell
Samantha Colburn
John Collinson
Jose Fernandez
Maritza Fernandez
Richard W. Larsen
Mark Larson
Ed Leibowitz
Alex Mikolevine
John “Dennis” Murphy
Christina Newland
Jack Oh
Justin Uribe
Kristin Uribe
Kathy Whitaker
Dr. C. Thomas Williams
Chloe Renee Ziegler
All of the pre-existing homes adjacent to the proposal are in a wildland-urban interface and high fire hazard zone. 9 homes burned in a 1964 fire and nearby wildfires of recent years, along with the frequent high dry winds, are reminders of the danger we face. Major insurance companies have canceled policies of homeowners while others have doubled and tripled their annual premiums. Permitting additional development on this hill with the knowledge we now all have of the fire danger makes no sense. Whoever approves adding any homes (much less the requested 14) to the same limited egress available could well have not just property destruction but also people’s lives on their hands.Cyd Gold, Eagle Rock Resident
— 2016 —
The Onteora Hillside Alliance was formed when the owner/developer, Leap of Faith Partners, LLC, failed for several years to clear the hillside grasses and underbrush on two vacant parcels, ignoring City of Los Angeles Municipal Ordinance Section 57.322 in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
A community letter to the Los Angeles Fire Commission forced the owner to clear the land of this severe fire hazard. Yet despite yearly fire citations, the problems of brush clearance persisted well after clearance notification dates. Surveying stakes soon appeared on the property and residents learned a subdivision, that included 14 prefabricated, multi-story box-like units mounted on triangular pylons was planned for the hillside.
— 2018 —
The project was terminated by the City of Los Angeles and the property returned to its original RE20 zoning regulation.
— 2020 —
New applications to build were again introduced by the Leap of Faith Partners, LLC. These included a zoning change (APCE 2020-6555 ZC HCA) and (ENV 2020-3136 EAF) (VESTING TT MAP 83148 HCA) to cut down 29 to 40 city/state PROTECTED Live Oak Trees. The community came together to protect our environment, to prevent the cutting down 80+ year old Live Oak trees, the destructive grading of our hillside, and to protect preexisting homes from a second zoning change from RE20 (allowing approximately 2-4 homes) to RE11 that would permit 14 units on a mere 4.3 acres.
— 2021 —
The Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council and its advisory board the Land Use Committee voted to OPPOSE the proposed development 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.
This is the LAST open space within the Eagle Rock corridor, and residents want to ensure the sustainment of one of its last remaining green spaces.
In this sprawling and dense city, green space is essential for all communities, especially Eagle Rock Alex & Kristy Koplin, Eagle Rock Resident
our vision for
Onteora hill
Somewhere ALL of Eagle Rock
can enjoy for generations to come!
our voices
Impossible to Transplant
Transplanting even a 6’ Oak would kill it because the tap root is so long.
Oak Trees Take Decades to Mature
Oak trees take decades to mature. New planting in a row, as Leap of Faith Partners, LLC (the developer) describes to serve as a visual barrier (above existing homes below Onteora Hill on Lockhaven Ave) will take years for the trees to mature and be detrimental to their survival.
Trees Protected For Years
If we cut the trees protected for years, that’s more than wrong. The runoff and damage to the homes below [will need] to get an attorney as soon as it starts. The city, the construction company, and the new home buyers all [go] into court.
The Live Oaks Hold Our Very Hillside Together
The Live Oaks on the Onteora Way site may be a headache and a nuisance for Leap of Faith Partners, but they are also what holds our very hillside together. They’re resistant to fire, and are capable of surviving extreme drought — which is beyond crucial in a city increasingly ravaged by climate change. They sustain myriad varieties of butterflies which lay their eggs upon them — including the Monarch butterfly, which is an endangered species. Leap of Faith talks about “re-installing” the oaks to make way for its pre-fab houses. But our city’s protected oaks are not fenceposts or flagpoles. They are the living lungs of our communities, and they will die if they’re torn from the soil that sprang them and plopped in some hastily dug hole for the developer’s convenience.
Cutting Down 40, 29 Or 1 Live Oak Is Just Criminal
California Oak Trees are a state-protected tree. Cutting down 40, 29 or 1 is just criminal. Don’t allow a fragile landscape to be exploited. The Onteora Hillside Alliance needs neighbors to speak up against it (the development) proceeding any further. A Full Environmental Impact Report is not only requested but mandatory. The building project (ENV 2020-3136 EAF) will greatly affect our environment. In this case in a negative way.
Don’t Disrupt This Sanctuary
Why is LOF (the potential developer) so determined to disrupt this neighborhood sanctuary, when there is an adjacent, semi-developed parcel (the failed Fair Park project) that would surely face less community resistance?
Don’t Destroy One of the Last Contiguous Open Spaces in Eagle Rock
Eagle Rock has been among the oldest of the developed areas of Los Angeles. In addition to the esthetic of older architecture, Eagle Rock developed with inclusion of the natural open space, supporting protected oaks and acting as wildlife corridors. Developing one of the last contiguous open spaces in ER destroys all of these elements. Doing this with piece meal bits of modern construction destroys all of this with a particular disregard for all who are impacted.
Save ALL The Green Hillsides
Let’s save ALL the green hillsides, now; let’s not wait to the last! Native trees are the signboards of our concerns and needs for all of the native/natural ecosystem; peacocks, parrots, and pigeon are the signboards that we don’t care.
Green Space is Essential
In this sprawling and dense city, green space is essential for all communities, especially Eagle Rock. Hold on to what we have left, or else – it will never come back.
The Last Unspoiled Hillside Our Community Has Left
Many L.A, neighborhoods owe their names to long-ago real-estate moguls like Henry Huntington and I.N. Van Nuys, who subdivided unspoiled land and exploited it to the fullest. Others, like Elysian Heights or Miracle Mile, were conjured up as marketing tools to lure prospective homeowners to a would-be paradise. Eagle Rock is one of the few areas named in honor of the natural beauty that surrounds us. Apart from the bluff dominated by the Eagle Rock itself, the ridge beyond Kerwin Place and Round Top Drive is now the last unspoiled hillside our community has left, where nature has been allowed to stay intact — where the trees and plants and animals that have been here for thousands of years still have sanctuary. If Leap of Faith is awarded a spot-zoning designation, this is what Eagle Rock — and all of us who proudly call it home — will lose forever.