The Oaks Homeowners Association has been hearing from a great many neighbors who are asking about recent development on Green Oak Drive and how it will affect brush clearance from the rear of homes on both north and south sides of the street as well as Griffith Park access for walkers and hikers from the end of the street.
A bit of history… For many years Green Oaks homeowners have utilized a twenty-foot wide easement behind their homes as a pathway for the removal of brush from the rear portions of their properties. Such brush clearance, mandated by Parks & Recreation, is considered very important in protecting Oaks homes from fires that might start in adjacent Griffith Park. In addition, many Oaks residents and their dogs have hiked into Griffith Park from Green Oak Drive by way of the strip of land at the end of the eastern cul-de-sac for several decades. For all this time Oaks neighbors had thought that the access strip was also Park land. It’s not. It’s private property, undeveloped until recently. Currently a new home is being built on the south half of the strip of land at the end of the cul-de-sac, and the north half of the strip has been newly posted with “No Trespassing” signs -- it is one end of a large privately owned parcel of land that stretches across the hill to the end of Wild Oak Drive.
Neighbors have asked whether it might be possible for them to continue to walk along that strip of land into Griffith Park, as they have done for many years, even though the corridor is private property. The City has not given an opinion on that question yet.
And while all this activity has been occurring at the cul-de-sac, there was a request for the vacation of a long-time city easement from Green Oak Drive into the Park through the driveway of a home on the north side of the street. This has created anxiety among some residents that suddenly, all at once, the community is losing all its access points to the Park from Green Oak Drive. They have asked what is to be done about the issue of long-standing public access over many decades from a public street to a public park. At the same time, the owners of the properties that are being developed and that have been newly fenced off have voiced legitimate property rights concerns.
The Oaks Homeowners Association of course represents all the residents involved here, both the property owners and the Park walkers. We very much hope that all parties involved -- the City, Parks and Recreation, neighbors and property owners -- can arrive at a solution that will be reasonably satisfactory to all involved. If you have thoughts on the subject, please let us know at GreenOaksComments@Oakshome.org.
