Residents Gearing Up For Fight Against Increased Wilderness Access

Northern Monrovia residents have organized in opposition to a city proposal to improve access to the Hillside Wilderness Preserve, arguing that a new resource management plan for the natural area will increase traffic congestion and disrupt hillside neighborhoods.

"Do you want Griffith Park in your backyards?," reads one of the signs posted in front of homes on Hillcrest Avenue in a neighborhood where many homemade posterboard signs and flyers have been used to encourage residents to attend Tuesday's meeting.

The council will consider a new resource management plan that would f to the preserve at four points that would be outfitted with new gates, signage, and bear-proof trash cans.

Dannie Rivera, a resident who lives in the 400 block of West Hillcrest Avenue, said he's afraid increased access will disrupt his neighborhood's sleepy atmosphere.

"We're opposed to it because we feel the way of life here would change dramatically," Rivera said. "We really value our privacy here."

Rivera pointed to traffic and parking problems faced by residents who live near as an example of what he didn't want his neighborhood to become.

City officials have repeatedly countered that their plan to formally open up the preserve would take a "minimalist" approach to improving access.

The preserve was established after voters approved Measures A and B in 2000, providing $10 million to purchase hillside land for public recreational use. The city developed a resource management plan for the area in 2009 but had to abandon it after a resident sued to force it to conduct a full-scale environmental review.

Resident Nicoline Conway called the signs on Hillcrest "stupid" on her Facebook page. She believes some northern residents just want to keep the preserve for themselves.

"Why don't you really say what you feel, like you are special because you purchased a home above Foothill and heaven forbid people from below Foothill ruin your day by walking or--better yet--driving or riding their bikes to enjoy a trail that is no way near your frickin' house," Conway wrote.

The council will vote to certify a final environmental impact report Tuesday. The new resource management plan would create access points at Highland Drive, Cloverleaf Drive, Ridgeside Drive, and Sleepy Hollow Lane. "No Parking" signs would be placed along Cloverleaf Drive north of Lotone Street, according to the RMP.

Larry Peoples, who lives near Mayflower Elementary, said the access to the preserve is already adequate. In addition to traffic concerns, he said he wanted to make sure that the preserve remains as undeveloped as possible.

"It's a preserve," Peoples said. "And that's what it's all about--to preserve the natural area for wildlife."

He said residents already have enough access to the preserve.

"I'm okay if they have access to it but I don't want to see it developed to accommodate and encourage wilderness use," he said.