LITTLEROCK – Juniper Hills resident Linda Wucherpfennig urged the public at Thursday’s Littlerock Town Council meeting to attend an upcoming county meeting that will outline proposed plans for a future Littlerock Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Park.
Announcing her support for the proposed recreation park, Wucherpfennig explained that the park would provide much-needed OHV family recreation.
“It is going to be about family recreation,” said Wucherpfennig, who is also a California Off-Road Vehicle Association, corva.org, representative to the Littlerock area. “We can teach our kids responsible off-roading instead of zipping through our backyards and everything – and helmets, gear, and how to have a safe ride.”
Hosted by Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, the public meeting will take place 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, at Jackie Robinson Park, 8773 East Avenue R in Littlerock. Parks and Recreation representatives will present the county’s OHV Park Planning Guidelines, site selection process and background for the proposed Littlerock OHV Recreation Park.
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The biggest issue concerning local property owners over the proposed location is control over OHV activity – and more.
“A managed OHV park is going to allow control – that’s what we don’t have over the area that they are proposing this,” Wucherpfennig said. “There’s illegal dumping, there’s fire risk, there’s shooting … there’s a lot of illegal activities going on in this area.”
But a managed OHV park would allow the Sheriff’s Department to increase its patrol outside of county boundaries because of a more collaborative relationship with the US Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and LA County Fire, she said.
“The LA County Sheriff’s has an OHV division that is going to be taking care of this area,” Wucherpfennig said.
In a public comment posted to the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division of California State Parks website, ohv.parks.ca.gov, one concerned Juniper Hills resident voiced his approval for a 2013 state grant that would help fund the Sheriff’s Palmdale Station OHV enforcement team to keep off-road activity in check in his foothills community.
“My experience is that many of these riders have no respect for private property and will eagerly destroy signs, fences and vegetation,” wrote the commenter, who identified himself as John Parsons in the March 7 public comment. “When the Palmdale ORV enforcement team started patrolling this area in 12/ 2009, the trespassing and destruction of property problems were nearly eliminated and continue at a low level to this day thanks to the continued monitoring by our Palmdale deputies. I am sure that local and out of area dirt bike riders would quickly return to this area if law enforcement is reduced or eliminated. That is why the ORV enforcement patrols must continue.”
And the county has determined that without official public OHV facilities, off-roaders will continue to trespass onto user-created trails that exist near the project site, according to a Sept. 12 letter from Parks and Recreation Chief of Planning Kathline King.
“Deputies report significant attempts to use trails in the vicinity of the project area and legal, public alternatives in the northwest part of the county do not exist,” King said in her letter. “Some property owners have been utilizing the area around the project sit for OHV recreation since the 1960s, as is evidenced by the numerous user-created trails, hill climbs, and unofficial staging areas.”
Wucherpfennig reminded the public at Thursday’s meeting that some in the community strongly oppose a future OHV recreation park, believing that recreational vehicles will continue to encroach on their private properties.
“What this will do is extend that law enforcement boundary and decrease encroachment of private properties. It’s going to prevent illegal entrance into the Angeles National Forest’s closed areas, and it’s going to be a lot better for everybody,” she said. “But even if you are against it, this (Wednesday) is your opportunity to voice your opinion.”
Ron Bolger, the town council’s president, told people at Thursday’s meeting that the Littlerock Town Council supports the proposed OHV park.
“We’re in favor of this as a council. We’ve discussed this before,” Bolger said as Wucherpfennig wrapped up her announcement.
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According to the Parks and Recreation fact sheet provided by King, the proposed project sit for the Littlerock Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreation Park would be located one-half mile east of the intersection of Cheseboro Road and Mount Emma Road on the south side of Mount Emma Road adjacent to the Angeles National Forest Service boundary.
The county is planning a staging area as large as 10 acres, and the OHV park with its internal trails is being proposed at up to 550 acres. Funding for the park would be provided by Special OHV Funds received from the State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Division, according to the county’s fact sheet.
A copy of the factsheet can be viewed online at file.lacounty.gov.
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View the LA County flyer on the Wednesday, Nov. 20 event at Jackie Robinson Park at file.lacounty.gov.
For more information on the proposed Littlerock OHV Recreation Park, contact Robert Ettleman of the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation at 213-351-5134 or [email protected].
Littlerock Town Council meetings are held 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. every 2nd Thursday of the month at the Littlerock High School Community Center, 10833 East Avenue R in Littlerock. For more information, visit the town council online at littlerocktc.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/littlerockca.
