WANT A ROAD IN THE STATE PARK?
In a rare circumstance, we find ourselves on the opposite side of an issue with the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). State Parks staff is supporting a new road into Telegraph Canyon, the Orange County entrance to Chino Hills State Park. Hills For Everyone does not.

Earlier Opportunity Lost
The Diemer water filtration plant, operated by Metropolitan Water District (MWD) is currently only accessed from the south side on Valley View. In the 1990’s the area around the plant was developed by Shell-Aera in Yorba Linda. The City was so intent on approving the housing project that it failed to require any mitigation for the MWD truck traffic that would be going through this new and now built residential development. MWD itself failed to secure a secondary access for emergencies when it had the chance during the processing of this development. According to a Yorba Linda resident who lives nearby, now that homes are there, neighbors have been complaining about the trucks.

Carrot to Fund Visitor Center
Meanwhile State Parks has been planning its Visitor Center off of Carbon Canyon Road and is short money to fully fund and staff it. MWD already has filtration ponds near the Orange County entrance. MWD has proposed two road sections through the State Park. The first part of the plan is to relocate an existing road easement to separate Visitor Center traffic from MWD trucks that go to the ponds. This relocation makes sense. But MWD has also proposed building a new road from the ponds, one mile up the steep south wall of Telegraph Canyon, to its hilltop plant. Though MWD touts it will be used for emergencies, it will actually also be used each day for employees and deliveries. This new road will impede traffic on Carbon Canyon Road (rated level “F”) for an estimated 20 MWD employees who will use the shortcut to the plant through the Park.

Having successfully fought for 20 years to keep a County road out of Telegraph Canyon, we were dismayed to learn that DPR is supporting both roads in this proposal. With the sizable chunk of funding that MWD has offered, DPR can establish an
endowment for staffing, furnishing, and finishing the Visitor Center.

Roads Ruin Parks
In our view, interrupting the serenity of this canyon and ripping up the walnut woodlands it contains is not worth the money MWD has offered. Building a Visitor Center should never come at the expense of the land or the Park experience itself. Selling out the natural resources of the Park ostensibly so people can better understand the resources of the Park is not good public policy. It makes all of the land vulnerable to the latest need expressed by outside agencies that have not planned well. It further encourages bad planning because these agencies know, in a pinch, they can make a deal with State Parks.

The Draft Environmental Impact Report was just released. Comments on it were due April 9th. To express your opposition to this road, email: Ted Jackson tjack@parks.ca.gov.

PRESS ON THE MWD ROAD
Read a recent article on the proposed MWD Road:
     Orange County Register - April 18, 2007 - Brea Road Breaks Coalition (1.9 MB)
    

Recirculated DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT
MWD has recirculated its Draft Environmental Impact Report (RDEIR) and will be accepting public comments until Monday, December 24th.  We would have liked to post the RDEIR on our website, but its size was nearly a half a gigabyte and too large to make this feasible.  If you'd like to review the RDEIR, CDs are available with the report on it.

DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT
Hills For Everyone provided comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR).  To view those comments and associated exhibits please click on the appropriate file below.