Gated Community Planned in Foothills

In this time of awakening to the fact that rampant growth is not always the best growth, I was shocked to see the plans for the hills above Altadena proposed by Tim Cantwell.

He wants to build 350 housing units in an area now rich in sycamores, great horned owls, meadows for deer, and mountain ridges--some of which would be destroyed.

The area that once served as a sanitarium would become the hub of the development. This was the perfect setting for a sanitarium for those with respiratory illnesses because of the quiet, clean air and vegetation. It remains a tranquil park-like area.

Cantwell proposes to build a gated community. Those residents living east of this project and watching with no interest are naive about what could happen.

We could be talking about “condo-country” all across our foothills from the Arroyo Seco to Eaton Canyon.

This developer shows no interest in abiding by the plans Altadena formulated and adopted in 1986. Is this what we want for our land? Is this what we want for the mountains that give us something special to look forward to after a winter storm, or even after a long day in Los Angeles?

The Board of Supervisors will ultimately decide if the needed zoning change is approved, but how its members vote depends a lot on how much we care. These foothills and mountains belong to all of us--for hiking, picnics, splashing in streams and photographing.

If we don’t wake up, we will have an eyesore we all will pay for.

CHRISTINA HEATH

Altadena