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At the September quarterly dinner and meeting, we celebrated the 35th birthday of the Valley Horse Owners Association and toasted the Los Angeles City "horse tax" that brought us all together.
Great appreciation and thanks to all who contributed to, and participated in both the 2006 and 2007 State of the Horse events. It will be up to the next board of directors to form up committees to plan future events.
The Stonehurst Community nestled between Shadow Hills and Sun Valley in the east end of the San Fernando Valley has two unique characteristics--it is composed of historic stone houses dating back to the early 1920’s and it is an equestrian neighborhood falling within a K-Overlay district.
Many different people have worked to preserve this special neighborhood and have been working through the process of having the neighborhood designated in the City of Los Angeles as a Historic Preservation Overlay.
Lloyd Hitt, one of the active community members working to get Stonehurst designated as historic is requesting that letters continue to be written to support this endeavor, "We must all write to Councilmember Wendy Gruel to continue to ask for her support to push this through as soon as possible."
Addresses for Stonehurst Historic District:
Ken Bernstein
523 West Sixth Street Suite 826
Los Angeles CA 90014
Gabriele Williams
Executive Assistant
L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission
200 N Spring St, Rm 532 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
L A Cultural Heritage Commission
Mary Klaus-Martin, President
200 N Spring St, Rm 1010 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
L A Cultural Heritage Commission
Richard Barron, VP
200 N Spring St, Rm 1010 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Foothill Trails Neighborhood Council
P.O. Box 726
Sun Valley, CA 91353
L A Cultural Heritage Commission
Alma M Carlisle, Commissioner
200 N Spring St, Rm 1010 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
L A Cultural Heritage Commission
Carlos Singer, Commissioner
200 N Spring St, Rm 1010 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
L A Cultural Heritage Commission
Stanley Stalford, JR
200 N Spring St, Rm 1010 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Councilmember Wendy Greuel
200 N Spring St, Rm 475 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Lambert Giessinger
Cultural Historic Staff
200 N Spring St, Rm 667 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Ken Bernstein, Director
Office of Historic Resources
City of Los Angeles Planning Dept.
200 N Spring St., 6th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Jay Oren
Department of City Planning
Cultural Historic Staff
200 N Spring St, Rm 667 City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Michael D. Antonovich
Supervisor, Fifth District
Pasadena Office
215 N Morengo Ave. #120
Pasadena, CA 91101-1505
Shadow Hills Property Owners Association
P.O. Box 345
Sunland, CA 91041
On November 5th, William Maloof, Suzanna Wood, Lloyd Hitt, Al Knight and I met with the planning department. Bob Duenas will be the planner in charge of the Historic Preservation Overlay Zone.
The next step will be a scheduled public workshop. City Planning will send out a notice to every address up to 500 feet away from the proposed historic houses. They agreed that the ideal public meeting place would be the old building in Stonehurst Park.
The Planning department will discuss what the rules will be for houses within the historic district, whether they are stone or not. Although no date has been set yet for the meeting, we’ll probably see the notice going out in 6 to 10 weeks.
On November 3rd, hundreds joined ETI Corral 210 and Gibson Ranch to enjoy a cowboy festival of barrel racing, roping, team penning, equestrian exhibitions and, of course, the little ones created and raced their home made stick ponies. Proceeds from the event benefited TeamFox for Parkinson's Research.
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The initial news of redevelopment and the potential eminent domain taking of whole Stonehurst community in Sun Valley was met last year with an instantaneous reaction from homeowners and residents. Stonehurst is a rurally zoned historic equestrian neighborhood with a K-overlay.
Stonehurst is proud of its diversity, history, and peaceful neighborhood created by an active participation of residents and a strong neighborhood watch. The Stonehurst Park is home of the first and only community park in Los Angeles to offer residents an equestrian arena and turnout with a multi use trail.
After the news broke, Los Angeles City Council- member Wendy Greuel immediately met with residents who overflowed the Historic Stonehurst Recreation Center and promised the community not here.
A 2005 Daily News article described a nebulous "unofficial" project slated for the neighborhood with a huge trade school campus at the elementary school location, parking lots, and low income housing claiming most of the rock houses and the area from Wentworth to Sunland Boulevards
The Sun Valley Neighborhood Council has done a great job to come up with an alternative project proposal meeting all the goals of that initial nebulous student project with minimal relocations and great care and consideration given to the existing residents and lifestyle.
It is a very exciting project that will enhance and improve our community without destroying it. Recreation and trails is a key theme that is supported and enhanced. For details, go to the link: http://www.valleyofthestars.net /#SunValley and click on the Sun Valley Renaissance Concept Plan in the New Release section.
The FTDNC has created a Manure Committee to look into what can be done to address the loss of manure recycling impacting stables and quadruple costs of removal.
The Will Rogers Polo Club hosted the 5rd Annual Hector Sustaita Memorial Tournament on September 29th. The last weekend of the season was October 6th with the 40th Annual Will Rogers Memorial Tournament. The Will Rogers Estate was gifted to the State of California in 1944 on the condition that the polo and equestrian activities continue at the park.
Controversy erupted in 2001 when State Parks and Recreation closed the stables where many local equestrians boarded their horses. Some felt the "interpretive" model proposed was not representative of the Roger's cowboy tradition where riding is something you did, not something you read about. The park has continued the Polo tradition, access for day use trailering in mounts, and has added riding lessons while it considers other equestrian programs. However, one has to think Roy would have found much fodder for his sense of humor and proportion in the recent history of the park.
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Steve and I are looking forward to retiring from the VHOA board after many years of service. We will support the continuation and future of VHOA. We hope all current members will also do the same. Keep your memberships active and get your friends and family to lend a hand in preserving our equestrian life styles and land use.
Steve and I wish to thank all of you for your unfailing support and interest over all these past years. We greatly appreciate your loyalty and your dedication to the cause of advocating for the preservation of the equestrian life style in the City and County of Los Angeles. VHOA is a very special group. We are all a cross-section of many many equestrian groups consistently making our voices heard to government officials at all levels of government to very effectively safeguard our horse keeping land use and lifestyle. We even have non-equestrians who join and work with VHOA to preserve our semi-rural atmosphere and characteristics.
VHOA has had great impact over more than 3 decades and I am very happy to announce that we have found a great group of equestrian athletes and visionaries within our membership to carry the torch forward. With a quorum at our last meeting we approved their nominations.
Michael will also need to appoint liaisons later. If you wish to also step up to help out please let us know.
Very soon, we will be sending out a mail-in ballot with the slate we are publishing in this newsletter. Please watch your mail.
WATCH YOUR MAIL for the VHOA mail-in ballot and please send in your votes ASAP so that VHOA will continue. It is very important that you do so and help participate in the future vision of our organization.
See the profiles we have included in this newsletter.
Michael Moertl is an avid polo player and fan that has been a resident of Los Angeles since 1992. Exposed to horses at an early age, his hometown in Wisconsin was host to both the Milwaukee and Olympia polo clubs and his uncle was a professional calf-roper who rode the rodeo circuit in the 1970's. Upon encountering various obstacles while attempting to acquire use of pubic land to form a permanent grass polo club here in Los Angeles, he realized the need for an orgnization that united local equestrians. After some searching, he discovered the Valley Horse Owners Association and instinctively recognized its importance to Los Angeles horse community as a whole. He immediately offered his service when called upon and is proud to be in consideration as the next President of the Board of Directors of VHOA. He believes the first thing to do is give the association a firm financial foundation through vigorous fundraising and expanding its membership to cover all of Los Angeles. He hopes someday that the VHOA will have a permanent location and a fulltime staff.
Rick Morris has a successful home appraisal business in Encino whose roots are also in the Midwest; Illinois to be exact. Also growing up in rural America, Rick's fond memories include riding horses over the countryside as a kid. Now, Rick has become civically minded and has offered to become the next Secretary of VHOA and board member. His interest is to lend his services to the association regarding land-use issues and as vice-president of membership.
Stella Christiansen graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara with a double major in Environmental Studies/Ecology and Evolution. During her studies she worked for the National Nature Conservancy gathering data on the Island Fox of Santa Cruz Island. She recently decided to further her education and is now in a graduate Physical Therapist program at UC-Northridge. She has offered to act as the next Treasurer of the VHOA and board member.
J.C. Christofilis has led a diverse career. Prior to launching his own consulting practice, J.C. directed all content and business development initiatives for Mandalay Pictures' New Media division and he also managed the company's venture capital arm responsible for evaluating the merits of companies seeking investment. J.C. has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Pepperdine University and received his Masters from the Producers Program at UCLA. JC is planning to be out of state for a few months, but upon his return will serve as the association's media consultant, website consultant and VP in charge of fundraising.
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The War Horse & Militaria Heritage Foundation, an active 501c3 non-profit organization in our community, is proposing an Equestrian Park on the Edison Property in Lake View Terrace in Orcas Park. The site that the War Horse is proposed is currently owned by Edison and would require a long term lease and permission by Army Corp of Engineers, The city of Los Angeles and Recreation & Parks.
The Equestrian Park would provide affordable facilities for trail trails, a cross-country course, and tent pegging events. All three equine sports are very exiting and growing equine sports and offer challenges from moderate to advance riders, children and adults. The proposed Equestrian Park would be maintained by the Foundation with partnerships formed with other interested non-profits.
The site would accessible with nominal membership fees to all equestrians via sanctioned equestrian organizations that have gone through training and safety criteria. This ability watermark is required for insurance and liability issues. The fees generated would help cover site expenses; on-site assets and equipment, maintenance, staff, program costs, legal, insurance, utilities, ground grooming & waste removal and organization overhead.
Currently, there are no public access sites for this type of equestrian use in the San Fernando Valley. The closest private facility is located ten files to the east and has very high membership initiation--in the mid five digits--and expensive monthly dues making it unaffordable for most equestrians.
The War Horse & Militaria Heritage Foundation makes it's home in Lake View Terrace. The foundation presents famous cavalry regiments from around the world, promoting the role of the horse in military history.
The War Horse appears in many parades (including the Tournament of Roses Parade, Hollywood Parade, Santa Barbara La Fiesta Parade), Schools (giving seminars on history) and Cultural Festivals (recently the United Scottish Highland Games at the Pomona Racetrack and at the Queen Mary in Long Beach) and has founded or cosponsored many local events including Day of the Horse and has achieved recognition from the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles, the State of California and local Congressional offices as well as the Prince of Bavaria and other events in Europe.
The motto of the War Horse is "equine spirit from the past" (tm), teaching the role of the horse in military history and the bonds that so many cultures around the world has with the horse! Upon the hooves of the horse are what founded and built civilizations. The War Horse practices every weekend in drill and precision riding with adults and junior riders. The War Horse website is www.warhorsefoundation.com
We are pleased to honor Dr. William Burke of the California Coastal Commission. He has helped change the Coastal Commission’s 20-year barrier against horse keeping. He had the integrity to disregard the arbitrary numbers and instead go with scientific findings for performance-based programs for pollution control.
With diverse business & political interests, he is best known as the founder of the LA Marathon. As an entrepreneur in health care, gold mining, tennis, & car racing, he was also chair of the State Fish & Game Commission and is presently chair of the South Coast AQMD.
Dr. Burke has made a significant contribution to the equine community, and he is a strong supporter of youth programs. Please join us to honor and thank Dr. Burke for his commitment to the horse world.
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In Chatsworth, we are extremely lucky to have a thriving equestrian community with working ranches, horse paths, feed and tack shops, and restaurants with hitching posts that locals still use.
But there is also fast-moving traffic. To alert drivers to the unique characteristics of our equestrian community we have installed new equestrian traffic safety signs on several streets where equestrians are common.
They have horse-and-rider symbols and urge drivers to "Share the Road - Next 1 Mile."
We also continue to work together with the equestrian community and the Department of Transportation to find ways to keep our roads safe for both horse riders and motorists.
Meanwhile, please share the road courteously and safely with equestrians, and slow down and pass wide when you encounter horses on the road.They are part of what makes our community great!
The members of the Valley Horse Owners Association are your neighbors and fellow equestrians. We share common interests such as the agricultural zoning in our communities, preserving our semi-rural lifestyles and using our land for horse keeping.
Our membership keeps up to date on issues in the community, city and county government that effect horse keeping and land use. We attend public hearings and promote cooperation to preserve our quality of life and to ensure we are represented by our elected officials.
The Valley Horse Owners Association acts as a clearing house for information and a liaison between the horse community and officials and politicians.
Land Use: We promote cooperation between residents and organizations on equestrian issues, land use, planning and zoning matters. We realize that only by uniting can we have a strong voice in city government and prevail against the reckless development that threatens to eliminate horse keeping areas or changes in legislation affecting equestrians. We attend Land Use hearings, City Council hearings, etc., and act as advocates for the horse keeping community.
Trails: Our members report on trail conditions and usage. We cooperate with other organizations and Trails Councils to maintain and acquire dedicated multi-purpose trails.
EVAC Unit: Four teams stand by, equipped with trailers and two way radios to evacuate horses and other animals to designated 'safe areas' in case of flood or fire. In past years, we worked with the Santa Clarita Sheriffs Department and with the Wildlife Way Station in responding to fires.
The Hoof Beat: We publish a newsletter once a month called the The Hoof Beat. The newsletter covers issues related to horse keeping, land use, zoning, trails and public hearings as well as a calendar of events, reprints of equestrian articles and local news briefs.
VHOA.ORG:The web site offers us a place to provide more information, publish an electronic copy of The Hoof Beat, archive earlier issues of the newsletter, and a summary of on going issues.
Community Involvement: Many of our members are also involved in property owner associations and other community groups. This enables our membership to network across the San Fernando Valley sharing information and working as a united front to support the preservation of land use and zoning for horse keeping.
Copyright © 2002-2007 by the Valley Horse Owners Association. All rights reserved.
