LA Teams with Nonprofit to Try to Buy Open Space Next to Runyon Canyon Park

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Runyon Canyon Park in Hollywood and its famous hiking trail popular with celebrities might be getting bigger -- and greener.

City Councilman David Ryu introduced a motion at Wednesday's council meeting outlining a plan for the city to facilitate the purchase of 4.76 acres of land adjacent to the park for its expansion.

The privately owned parcel is located at 2450 Solar Drive and "the fear is that it could be sold to private developers who would build homes there," said Estevan Montemayor, a spokesman for Ryu, who added that the plan is for the land to remain open green space if it is purchased.

The land for sale does not include a house located at the address and is valued at more than $10 million, Montemayor said. The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit group, is negotiating to buy the parcel and has driven the price down to $8.75 million. The trust has raised $4.45 million, leaving it $4.3 million short.

The city has available funds for the purchase through Prop K, a bond measure that raises $25 million a year for the acquisition, improvement, construction and maintenance of city parks, recreation facilities and other projects. The motion says $2.5 million in Prop K funds were set aside several years ago for the land purchase, and it has accrued $1.8 million in interest, for a total of $4.3 million.

The money would be given to the Trust for Public Land to buy the property, which would then donate the land to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, Montemayor said. The city owns and manages most of Runyan, but the MRCA oversees the park's open green space, Montemayor said, which is why it makes sense for it to oversee the additional land.

City News Service; Photo: Jeff Gunn via flickr.com