At the end of June, the County of Los Angeles was set to sell ~28 acres of land next to the Harbor Blvd. undercrossing to the City of La Habra Heights. This is concerning for a number of reasons. First, the parcel adjacent to the tunnel was being purchased for housing. Second, the impacts of housing, and its added residents, so close to a wildlife chokepoint hadn’t been properly studied or impacts disclosed and may actually jeopardize wildlife movement. Third, the proper process for selling this surplus land wasn’t followed by Los Angeles County. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again… many of our positions simply ask governmental agencies to follow the rules. The same applied here.

This week, we offered some solutions to the City of La Habra Heights, who must work to meet its housing requirement as well as a settlement agreement with the State. Instead of making it easier for a future housing project on less acreage, that is further south from the tunnel, the City Council voted to authorize the purchase of all of the parcels (the entire 28 acres). We continue to watch and engage on this topic. It goes back to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, July 28th after our mutual efforts led to a continuation of the June agenda item.