By Brandon HENSLEY

LA County’s Regional Planning and Public Works Dept. is preparing to send a survey to La Crescenta residents regarding their feelings on lighting within certain areas. At the June 15 Crescenta Valley Town Council meeting, Carmen Sainz and Bruce Durbin from Public Works told council it will mail a three-page survey to residents within two to three weeks. It will most likely be sent via snail mail.

“The purpose is to develop a survey to give out to the community members so they can vote on what is it they want in terms of lighting,” Sainz said. “Should we keep the lighting as it is today where you go through this petition process, or should we impose other development standards to reduce lighting so there’s less lighting coming in so you don’t have these pockets of lighting in your community?”

On April 11, LA County Board Supervisor Kathryn Barger made a motion for a six-month moratorium for installation of streetlights in La Crescenta. Regional Planning was told to come up with a survey to figure out what the community preferred.

The first two pages of the survey will specify the process of light installation and the last page will be the survey.

A discussion of demographics emerged during the Sainz and Durbin presentation, including how people of a certain age obtain information, which is why a majority of members of the council and the audience agreed to make the survey available by mail.

Durbin told the audience to spread the word as much as possible.

“I would encourage everyone to talk to your neighbors, your places of worship, the 4th of July parades or whatever; this is a perfect opportunity to do outreach in your community,” Durbin said.

“Don’t put all of this on county staff,” he continued. “This is something you have expressed is a problem in your community and therefore it’s also up to you to figure out what the consensus is. We don’t have a ton of time.”

After the meeting, councilmember Brandon Lee expressed his desire to eventually build a better pathway for La Crescenta residents of any demographic to become better informed about policy.

“Voter apathy is a real thing,” he said. “We don’t want to get hit with backlash for something people didn’t want to read on their own initiative. … It’s the lack of infrastructure or resources to adequately get the community consensus we believe is legitimate, or to really inform our constituents and our residents who are busy with their own lives.”

Lee said older people in the area may not be as technologically literate as the younger people, and wondered how to spread the word in implementing policy. He said he wants to eventually build a support network, to create “a new information super highway.”

“That’s going to take immense resources and right now we just don’t have that time. But moving forward, this could revolutionize politics … how policy will be implemented, how enabled and empowered our residents are to try and make the change themselves,” he said.

Jim Hartman, from the county’s Dept. of Agriculture Commission/Weights and Measures addressed the urban coyote problem around the Crescenta Valley. There have been several postings lately on the Official La Crescenta Facebook page about coyote sightings as well.

Hartman, who oversees coyote management for the county, told the residents coyotes are curious creatures that are ingrained in the ecosystem of Los Angeles. Coyotes eat garbage, rodents, vegetables and small animals which, unfortunately for cat owners, will always be a problem.

“These guys are predators of opportunity. They’re not trying to annoy you,” Hartman said. “If your cat’s there and [the cat] doesn’t know it’s food, [the coyote is] going to go after that rather than the rabbit that does know it’s food.”

Hartman said coyotes range from 15 to 40 pounds and that litters are from four to seven pups, which stay with parents until late summer.

The biggest takeaway from Hartman’s speech was not to feed the animals.

“They’re primarily looking for a handout,” he said. “The biggest problem we have with coyotes is people feeding them. Almost anything you give them will be nutritionally inferior to what they can get in the wild.”

Since coyotes eat rodents, Hartman cautioned against anyone having bird feeders.

“I don’t know why people have bird feeders. Rats love these things,” he said. For those who do have one, Hartman advised putting it inside during the night.

To help keep coyotes off of people’s property, Hartman recommended a six-foot wall around the backyard and to clear any brush or dense weeds. If someone comes into close range with a coyote, and the potential for an attack is there, Hartman said to make eye contact as well as making yourself appear larger than you are. Stones can also be thrown at it or spraying it with water is another deterrent. If one does attack, call 911 immediately.

Hartman said there have been seven attacks recorded on humans since January.

If someone has a coyote problem, call the Integrated Pest Management Division at (626) 575-5463.

The next CVTC meeting is scheduled for July 20 at 7 p.m. at the La Crescenta Library, 2809 Foothill Blvd.

  Brandon Hensley