Marina del Rey’s Tree of Greed
By John
Davis
Marina del Rey translates to
Marina of Kings. A more proper name would be Marina of
Thieves.
Venice founder Abbot Kinney was the
first to propose a small boat harbor be dug out of the Ballona wetlands. His
proposal to build a man made marina at the outlet of the Playa del Rey Lagoon
was rebuffed by the Secretary of War because it was not consistent with the U.S.
Rivers and Harbors Act that would fund it.
This estuary and the surrounding twenty-one
hundred acres of wetlands were located in the Ballona Gap or valley. It was here
the once untamed Los Angeles River entered Santa Monica Bay and the Pacific
Ocean providing a vast floodplain that was replenished by the annual rains. A
native American settlement consisting of several interconnected villages was
located on the majestic Ballona Bluffs.
Smoke rose from the cook fires and an
abundance of food from the sea and surrounding mountains feed the people. The
sage ritual was preformed to cleanse the area of
evil.
Later the area became known as
the Rancho de La Ballona after a Mexican land grant. Settling title to the land
after the Mexican American War was completed in the treaty of Guadeloupe
Hildago. At that point native Americans were prevented from laying claim to the
lands. The State failed to make a claim that many felt was due to pressures from
private entities attempting to gain the valuable
lands.
After the World War Two ended
the County of Los Angeles approached the Army Corp of Engineers and re-applied
for assistance under the Rivers and Harbors Act. The Chef Engineer then
presented a final report to the Secretary of the Army who then presented it to
the 84th Congress of the United
States.
In the report the County
claimed that there was no longer enough space on local lakes to provide
recreation for those with small unseaworthy boats. A specious claim
indeed!
The Report to Congress said the
project would be part of the nationally funded Santa Monica Bay Restoration
project. It would include a youth hostel, public campgrounds, restaurants, small
motels and landscaping. The primary purpose of the proposed project was to
provide a safe place for recreational boats not fit to go to sea. Water-skiing,
fishing, and sailing were envisioned. It was to be a vast public marine park so
that even people without boats could use it. Small cabanas were envisioned to be
used on a rotational basis by visitors. All of the oil wells were to be removed.
The grand plan was supposed to be part of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration
Project.
The County of Los Angles
promised the U.S. Congress it would deed forever and in perpetuity all lands,
easements, and rights of way necessary to complete the federal project as
described to the Congress in House Document 389. The lands would then fall under
the Doctrine of Public Trust for the good of the people in the United States.
Only fair and reasonable rates could be charged. The County promised the
Secretary of the Army it had the money to obtain all of the promised lands and
the Secretary made the same promise to the Congress on behalf of the Army Corp
of Engineers.
Land the County was
supposed to deed to the U.S. included areas used to accept dredge fills in the
Ballona Wetlands on both sides of Ballona Creek. The vast project boundaries
included an exact description what is West Bluff to the South, Lincoln Blvd. to
the East and extended all the way into Venice to the
North.
The Congressional record
indicates Howard Hughes wanted lands West of Lincoln Blvd to extend his U.S.
funded Airstrip. But the Secretary of the Airforce dismissed this claim saying
the Airforce had no intention of extending the
runway.
Hughes wanted those lands and
locals know that what Hughes wanted he somehow got. He would not let the U.S.
Airforce and Congress get in his way. This was the Hughes style. Howard really
saw real estate development potential and personal profit in the Ballona
wetlands.
Then the tree of greed began
to grow. Shortly after the Congress approved the project under the Rivers and
Harbors Act of 1954 the County approached the Army Corp. and stated it really
did not have the money to provide all of the land it had promised Congress just
months earlier. The County asked the Corp if it was ok to obliterate the project
approved by Congress and substitute a large yacht harbor with only ingress and
egress to the sea that would preordain luxury
development.
The Army Engineers were
allowed by Congress to modify the project but not to demolish it entirely. But
that is precisely what happened. The events played out like
this.
Instead the County had a plan to
deed a tiny fraction of the promised lands to the United States. This demolished
the original project entirely without the knowledge of Congress and was far more
than what the Corp tries to explain away as a legal
modification.
There is a plaque in
Marina del Rey that says that County Board of Supervisors Chairman Burton Chace
turned a “mosquito infested swamp” into
paradise.
What he really did was lie to
the U.S. Congress with the full knowledge and cooperation of the Army Corps of
Engineers.
The end results are that
Burton Chace signed the illegal deed and President Eisenhower signed Public Law
780 authorizing the project. No questions were asked until now. If this deed is
illicit then how will that affect ownership of the lands promised to
Congress?
Today the County and Coastal
Commission allow for market rates. Fair and reasonable has been thrown out.
Developers claiming to own Cabana spaces replaced them with luxury apartment
buildings. High-end hotels like the Ritz Carlton and Hyatt have replaced small
motels. Long-term sweetheart leases have been given to corporations consisting
of favored figures in Los Angles society such as former Councilperson Cindy
Miskcowski and developer husband Doug
Ring.
Today there is no public
campground nor is there a hostel. Oil wells still exist and Sempra Energy stores
methane in reservoirs below the project. Oil and gas transmission lines run
along Admiralty and Via Marina but were not disclosed to the public until one
ruptured last summer.
The West Bluff is
shown in the congressional project yet there is now development occurring on the
land clearly described and shown as part of the project to the
Congress.
And what about Hughes? When
the County transmitted the deed to the U.S. Government it was supposed to be
consistent with the Congressional approval. It was
not.
Hughes got the Ballona Wetlands he
so coveted. In course the land was transferred to Summa Corp. and then to Playa
Vista.
So how did Playa Vista recently
sell a portion of the Ballona Wetlands to the State of California? The County
promised the U. S. Congress that same land would be deeded to the United States
Government forever and in
perpetuity.
Marina del Rey is the
skeleton in the closet of the County and City of Los Angeles and it is rattling
again for truth and justice.
Posted: Thu - September 1, 2005 at 03:38 PM