Upgrade in works for Aliso Canyon

MAKEOVER: Park will get improved equestrian amenities.

I t was once a mangy horse ranch that drew complaints from neighbors. Then a dumping ground. And a magnet for car burglaries outside popular Aliso Canyon.

Now, city-owned Aliso Canyon Park is poised for a major environmental upgrade, including $2 million in horse and hiking facilities.

"This is something that needs to be preserved," City Councilman Greig Smith said Thursday during an official groundbreaking near the Granada Hills canyon his office saved from development.

"This was one of those cases where the plan was to build a road right down the middle here and build 17 homes. I said, `That would be a tragedy."'

The 50-acre park was created six years ago in a natural canyon bisected by a year-round creek that is flanked by towering willow, sycamore, oak and pepper trees.

Long a destination for equestrians and hikers, the rustic area was saved from a contractor's bulldozer after the city used park bond and development funds to double its size and secure its entrance at Rinaldi Street and Hesperia Avenue.

Last year, Smith secured a $2 million grant to improve the park at the foot of the Santa Susana Mountains. No longer will drivers be forced to park on Rinaldi, where car burglaries were common.

Next month, the city will begin building restrooms, a parking

lot and outdoor pavilion, along with picnic areas featuring a footbridge over the creek. There also will be an equestrian riding arena and staging area, with a network of improved horse trails.

A meadow will feature native, drought-tolerant plants.

The Aliso Canyon Park upgrades are scheduled to be completed in July 2012.

On Thursday, more than two dozen city officials gathered for the groundbreaking, including Kevin Regan, assistant general manager for the Department of Recreation and Parks.

"As you can see, there's going to be such a beautiful project here for equestrian use, and the dream of having an equestrian center here that can allow folks to ... utilize the facility - it is the essence of public recreation," Regan said.

Neighbors who had long advocated for the park were thrilled.

"This is nice," said Dave Beauvais, president of the Old Granada Hills Residents Group, who attended the ceremony with his dog. "We're just so happy this is opening up."

"It's wonderful," said Mel Mitchell, president of the Porter Ranch Neighborhood Council. "We wanted to keep it as natural as possible. We hike. We watch people ride their horses here. My son likes to run through the canyon.

"This is very much an asset to the community."

For Smith, who leaves office at the end of this month, the park is a culmination of an eight-year campaign to boost parkland in the northwest San Fernando Valley.

He said when he was elected in 2003, no parks had been added to District 12 in decades. Since then, he said, he's added 94 acres of parkland to Northridge and Chatsworth, and also rebuilt the long-shuttered Northridge pool.

"It's my last park," said Smith, visibly emotional as the wind whipped through the trees and yellow mustard swayed in the breeze. "This district has beautiful hillsides, we felt it had been developed enough.

"Wherever we could, we tried to keep our open space ... and also energize a declining community of horse keeping and equestrians in our district."

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18196457?source=rss

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