NEIGHBORS' PLANS FOR EXPANSION MAY SPELL TROUBLE FOR GRIFFITH PARK

BY CAROL HENNING

Griffith Park sits at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountain range, and the land surrounding the Park has become developed to the point where Griffith Park is virtually an island in an urban sea, its rugged interior rising high above the city. Some of the Park's northern neighbors-NBC Universal, Universal MTA, Oakwood and Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills-have expansion plans. The cumulative impact of the simultaneous development of these neighbors will likely result in a massive reduction of open space near the eastern portion of the Santa Monica Mountains and in degradation of biological resources and air quality.

One of the neighbors, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, is embarking on a Master Plan to develop the balance of its 400-plus acres. Much of the land abuts Griffith Park land and is (or was) naturally forested. Forest Lawn plans new structures and thousands of new interment sites. This, of course, means expansion of the Lawn at the expense of the Forest. How did Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills become Griffith Park's next door neighbor?

The land that would become a memorial park, mortuary, crematory, mausoleums, art installations, flower shops and churches all in one place, was part of Rancho La Providencia-an 1843 land grant of 4,064 acres. In 1867, a New Hampshire dentist named David Burbank bought the land. He established a large ranch, raising sheep and building a house on what later became the Warner Brothers Studio back lot.

Forest Lawn: The First 100 Years, an attractive, self-congratulatory book, states that: With the zoning dispute finally resolved, the first interment occurred in the Sheltering Hills section of Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills on March 8, 1948. What was this zoning dispute? Through the end of World War II, Rancho La Providencia's rugged hills had discouraged development. As Mike Eberts points out in Griffith Park: A Centennial History, the Los Angeles Parks Department had a plan for expanding Griffith Park. Recreation and Parks wanted to buy a big piece of Providencia land on the north side of Mt. Lee. But as the land became available, the Parks Department had two rivals for it. One was a housing developer. The other was the Forest Lawn Cemetery Company... Forest Lawn had enough money to outbid the city and it bought the property, but the land was zoned residential (and the residents were supposed to be alive). In 1946, the Planning Commission denied Forest Lawn a zoning change. Four city departments opposed the establishment of a cemetery. The Hollywood Citizen-News published articles in opposition to the cemetery and in favor of expanding Griffith Park. Mayor Bowron also supported adding the land to the Park. In 1948, Colonel Griffith's widow wrote a telegram to the city council president urging that the Park's value as a public recreation ground not be diminished by any neighboring development. However, Forest Lawn had switched its attention to the city council, which it asked to adopt a resolution for conditional use.Such a resolution could neither be vetoed by the mayor nor overridden by referendum.

The city council voted 10-3 for the resolution, whereupon Forest Lawn gave new meaning to the concept of shovel-ready projects. According to Mike Eberts, the remains of six people who had recently died at General Hospital were whisked to the property adjacent to Griffith Park and deposited into six freshly dug graves. Forest Lawn had relied on a California state law providing that the legal burial of six persons on one site dedicated the land forever as a graveyard. Before the council vote, the cemetery company had offered free and quick burials for up to eight people. The burials converted the land to a cemetery. End of discussion, announced Forest Lawn.

Griffith Park and Forest Lawn continue to define and refine their neighborly relationship. In 1987, Forest Lawn proposed a land swap. The Department of Recreation and Parks accepted and got a 110-acre parcel along the backside of Mt. Lee. Forest Lawn got a tax break and a 4.8-acre chunk of unused parkland along Forest Lawn Drive. Without permission from the city, Forest Lawn removed Live Oak trees from property along Forest Lawn Drive. In compliance with a 1998 Stipulated Judgment, the cemetery company has hired biologists to plant native oaks in developed areas of Griffith Park. Forest Lawn claims no more trees will be removed from its property until the master plan has been implemented.

Lawn-park cemeteries emerged at the turn of the 20th century. They feature green lawns and close-to-the-ground tablet markers of granite or bronze. Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills does not permit adorning of the interment sites with artificial flowers. Walking through the memorial park, one is struck by the beauty of its setting. In many areas, slopes of groomed grass end where naturally forested hillsides take over. As I walked, I watched a coyote trotting downslope among the grave markers. Later I saw the same coyote emerge from some trees east of Travel Town. It is reported that a cemetery worker witnessed three deer, running so fast they were almost flying, being chased through the graveyard by a mountain lion-a reminder of Forest Lawn's wild neighbor to the south.

If we look at urban wilderness and open space as a continuum, we might suppose that a golf course or a cemetery occupies a middle ground-not as desirable as undeveloped parkland but less undesirable than a housing development or a shopping mall. Nonetheless, grass must be cut, fed and watered. This means power mowers, leaf blowers and chemicals. In a cemetery there is the added threat caused by embalming fluid, in which the active ingredient is the toxic substance formaldehyde.

Forest Lawn's Environmental Impact Report will likely have to address concerns of The Army Corps of Engineers and the State Department of Fish and Game as well as the City of Los Angeles Planning Department. Environmental issues raised by the Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills proposed expansion begin with concerns about biological resources. Griffith Park is an essential link in the Southern California wildlife corridor stretching from the Santa Monica Mountains to the Verdugos. These corridors are needed to maintain healthy and balanced populations of spe cies over the long term. That portion of the Los Angeles River that flows through and abuts Griffith Park is being reclaimed as a natural riparian zone. It exhibits an exceptional degree of biodiversity. The loss or degradation of the last remaining tributaries to the Los Angeles River could be an unfortunate consequence of development by Griffith Park's neighbors. One of these tributaries is Senett Creek. The canyon through which it flows, Royce's Canyon, is a sloping, rocky area with small caves. Bobcats den there. Wildflowers abound. A lichen specialist from U.C. Riverside found 20 lichen taxa in Royce's Canyon, of which three had not previously been reported in the Santa Monica Mountains.

This beautiful canyon barely escaped becoming the second official trash heap in Griffith Park. By 1981, the Toyon Canyon dump was almost full. Established in 1957, Toyon was handling 1,200 tons of rubbish a day by October 1959. The Sierra Club argued that the garbage was killing nearby trees, endangering the underground water supply and greeting runners, hikers and equestrians with a colossal stink. Senett Canyon, lying between Toyon and Forest Lawn, was a candidate for the next L.A. rubbish repository. The Sierra Club wrote letters and led hikes into Senett Canyon. Recreation and Parks Commissioner, Royce Neuschatz, strongly opposed Toyon II as she had opposed Toyon I. In 1984, Mayor Bradley urged abandonment of Toyon II, and, in 1989, Senett Canyon was renamed Royce's Canyon.

Another environmental concern involves the impact of erosion from extensive grading of lands adjoining Griffith Park's natural upslope terrain, especially the impact on Royce's Canyon and nearby Toyon Meadow (atop the landfill). Runners, hikers and equestrians in the northwest part of the Park have probably seen the artifacts of the grading that has been taking place on Forest Lawn property.

The expansion and development projects of Griffith Park's northern neighbors are scheduled to occur simultaneously. Their cumulative impact could have devastating effects on Griffith Park's recreational viewsheds, natural watersheds, biodiversity, wildlife corridors, air quality and geology. Enlightened planning can mitigate these effects, but we must make sure the planning is as enlightened as possible by staying informed, staying active and making pests of ourselves.