Introduction to the Natural Communities Conservation Plan
The Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy was founded with the goal of preserving the remaining open space on the south side of the Peninsula. Now we have the opportunity to accomplish that goal by creating the Portuguese Bend Nature Preserve, a 1500 acre preserve in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes.
The Preserve will include the areas shown below. The areas in red are to be purchased; the areas in green will have conservation easements placed upon them. All of the lands in the preserve, including those already protected (shown in yellow) will be managed for public access and habitat protection.
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- The availability of bond funding - Funding has been promised by the state and federal government to acquire the open space needed to complete the preserve, if the PVPLC can raise $6 million in local funds.
- Willing sellers - both properties owners are willing to sell their land now, but if this acquisition falls through, they will file development proposals on their property.
Natural Communities Conservation Plan
In order to understand why we have this onetime opportunity to preserve this open space, a little background is necessary. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 was legislated by the federal government to protect species in danger of extinction. In response to concerns that this Act was not entirely successful, in the early 1990s the federal government established the Natural Communities Conservation Planning (NCCP) process to encourage the creation of regional plans for specific areas. The goal of this planning process is to preserve the most important areas of open space for multi-species protection, while allowing development on less important areas. Governor Pete Wilson agreed to pilot this new type of regional planning in Southern California.
The state and federal governments made funding commitments to jurisdictions which would undertake and complete an NCCP. The City of Rancho Palos Verdes began its NCCP process for the Portuguese Bend Preserve in 1996, involving local property owners, environmentalists and concerned residents. The final plan, approved on August 31, 2004, provides for preservation of almost all of the remaining open space in the City.
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Availability of Funding
We are now at a crucial point in putting together the acquisition of the Portuguese Bend Nature Preserve: the completion of the NCCP has opened the door to a multi-faceted funding package. However, other California NCCPs are now in various stages of progress. It is important to emphasize that this is a one-time funding opportunity. If the Land Conservancy does not fulfill its funding obligation, the available state and federal funds will be distributed to other projects. For a summary of the funding proposed, see Financial Advisory Committee Report 
.
Willing Sellers & Proposed Development
While the area to be preserved is currently in a development moratorium due to past landslide activity, new technology and the high price of land in Los Angeles will make it feasible to develop these lands at some time in the future. The area is zoned for development, and there are applications currently on file at the City of RPV for projects within the moratorium.
The first major moratorium exclusion application has been accepted by the City for what is called the Lower Filiorum area, owned by a group that includes Jim York. The City's geotechnical experts have agreed that the measures proposed in that application will result in an adequate factor of safety for residential housing. The fact that it has reached this point demonstrates that the moratorium will not prevent development in the area indefinitely. While it is the Land Conservancy's goal to preserve this area, it is not included in the proposed NCCP acquisition.
The property owners who have agreed to sell their land at the appraised value have stated that if the acquisition does not happen soon they will proceed with their development projects for the area. Read the interview with Barry Hon 
, who owns the eastern half of the proposed preserve.
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Preserve Management
Once the preserve is created, almost all of the land will be owned by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. Conservation easements held by the Land Conservancy will be placed on all the properties, and those easements will be held by the Land Conservancy.
The preserve will also be managed by the Land Conservancy. This is the first time that a nonprofit will be written into a Natural Communities Conservation Plan as manager of a preserve. The City of Rancho Palos Verdes has committed to provide $100,000 per year to the Land Conservancy for expenses, along with other in-kind services such as trash pickup and public safety. The Land Conservancy has committed to contribute $75,000 in cash and in-kind services, along with $50,000 per year in volunteer time. An important aspect of this proposal is that it will not require ongoing funding from the state or private sector to be a successful project. Detailed reporting requirements and budgets are included in the NCCP, which demonstrate that there will be accountability and the resources available to manage the preserve for public use and habitat protection.
