Council pauses Placerita Canyon easement vacation, asks staff to secure wildlife‑corridor protections

The City Council on Tuesday declined to finalize a consent‑calendar vacation of several old street easements in Placerita Canyon and asked staff to return with protective language to preserve the creek corridor and wildlife passage.

Residents and the Placerita Canyon Property Owners Association told the council they had not received adequate information about the easement request and raised concerns about wildlife connectivity and floodway protection. Sandra Cottel and other speakers urged transparency and cautioned against giving up corridor protections that sustain deer, bobcat and other wildlife movements.

Property representatives said the easements were granted decades ago for road rights‑of‑way that are no longer used and asked the council to return those segments to the property owners. Owner representative Anthony Mathesus said there is no development plan and the request was to clear title by vacating obsolete road segments.

City staff noted the mapped easement lines can be misleading at 12 feet on the submitted map and that regulatory bodies such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife would typically require a much wider buffer (staff estimated 100–120 feet) for creek protection. The city’s assistant engineer suggested recording a restricted‑use area or covenant to protect the corridor now rather than leaving the property subject to uncertain future development pressure.

Councilmembers expressed a preference for protecting the creek and wildlife corridor and asked staff to prepare proposed restricted‑use language and return the item for council review. The item will be brought back with recommended language designed to preserve floodway, wildlife and trail connectivity where appropriate.

What’s next: staff will draft a restricted‑use covenant or similar instrument that reflects buffer width and protections and return to council for consideration before any easement vacation is finalized.