Valley City Councilman Seeks to Block Hidden Creeks Development

The Valley’s newest representative on the Los Angeles City Council has put the brakes on Hidden Creeks Estates and Preserve, a proposed housing development next to Porter Ranch. A Los Angeles Daily News report said that L.A. City Councilman John Lee called Wednesday for the city to support the preservation of the Hidden Creeks property as open space. “Preserving the Hidden Creeks property as open space has been a priority for both the county and city for years,” Lee said told the Daily News. The twin concerns, according to Lee and other officials, has to do with preserving the wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities at the site, as well as avoiding the establishment of residential homes near the Aliso Canyon gas storage plant that instigated the largest natural gas leak in history back in 2015. Lee, who represents Council 12, including the northwest San Fernando Valley, has introduced a motion instructing the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks to join the county and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in actively pursuing preservation of the property. Starwood Land Advisors, the developers of Hidden Creeks Estates and Preserve, had been seeking to develop housing on 285 acres at Hidden Creeks while setting up half of the property for open space and parks. Hidden Creeks Estates and Preserve had been proposed for the land between Porter Ranch and Chatsworth that abuts the Aliso Canyon facility. According to Lee, who took office only last month, upon his appointment to former councilman Mitch Englander’s position, he immediately began discussions with Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger to seek a solution that would protect “this vital connector for equestrian and recreational users,” Lee said. The property sits just outside of Lee’s Los Angeles jurisdiction, which explains why he sought an ally in Barger, who introduced a similar measure calling for preservation of the land with the county Board of Supervisors. According to Barger, she has been calling to preserve the property as public land since her election in 2016.