California: Imagine a greenbelt around Los Angeles, connecting with parks & USFS lands

To that end, the city of Santa Clarita has launched a full-court press
to acquire and protect the wealth of unspoiled lands and wildlife
sanctuaries that surround the Los Angeles County suburb. “The goal is
to get open space all the way around the city,” said Weste, who has
championed the cause for more than three decades.In 2007, Santa
Clarita property owners helped put the city one step closer to that
goal when they voted to create an Open Space Preservation District.

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It will secure a greenbelt buffer around the city by saving lands from
development while protecting rare biological and geological regions
and establishing additional trails and parklands…. But few cities
have established a system that requires property owners to pay for
creating a greenbelt, she said. Property owners in the part of Los
Angeles that includes the Santa Monica Mountains agreed to such a
measure in 2002.

It has so far resulted in the preservation and
protection of almost 2,000 acres of open space, Stolarz said. Santa
Clarita has already acquired more than 3,200 acres, officials said.
The plan is for the greenbelt to stretch across the San Gabriel and
Santa Susana mountains and create wildlife corridors in the Angeles
National Forest. In addition to buying land, Santa Clarita is
partnering with public agencies such as the Santa Monica Mountains
Conservancy to acquire property.

The city also hopes to persuade would-be developers to donate land in exchange for the opportunity to build housing tracts or commercial centers. Such was the case with Golden Valley Ranch, a 1,200-acre swath of land where developers had planned to build hundreds of homes and a retail center. After years of negotiations, the developers agreed to donate 900 acres, which will remain open space, said Rick Gould, Santa Clarita’s director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services…

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