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Home My WebLink About1999-04-19; Parks & Recreation Commission; 499-4; Letter from Lynne BakerAB# 4994 MTG. DATE: 4/15/99 DEPT. CSD DIV. REC STAFF: BEVERLY RECOMMENDED ACTION : INFO TITLE : LETTER FROM LYNNE BAKER c] ACTION Accept and file. ITEM EXPLANATION : Staff has received a letter for distribution to the Commission. The letter is from the Parks and Open Space Chairperson of the Sierra Club of San Diego and Imperial Counties regarding Box Canyon. The letter is addressed to Courtney Heineman as chairperson of the Planning Commission and discusses issues related to immunity for injuries caused by natural conditions. This is an information item only for the Commissioners. EXHIBITS: 1. Letter from Lynne Baker - March 16, 1998 022 ,- March 16, 1998 Mr. Courtney Heineman Planning Commission Chair City of Carlsbad 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 RE: Box Canyon Special Use Permit; Immunity for Injuries caused by Natural Conditions Dear Mr. Heineman, On February 17th, I appeared before the City Council to inform them of the Sierra Club's efforts to support local high school students who are in the process of designing an alternative solution (barrier plantings, distant overlook & trail) to the proposed blasting at Box Canyon. Mayor Lewis asked specifically if the students would address the "attractive nuisance' liability aspect of the property, as there had been injuries and even a few deaths - associated with the cliff jumping there and further directed me to the Planning Commission. I informed the council that no litigation had ever occurred due to immunity associated with a natural condition of unimproved land. Box Canyon is proposed to be a part of the habitat conservation plan (HCP) for the City of Carlsbad, managed open space for the general public pursuant to a 1992 agreement with the City. Any proposal which would increase the liability associated with the natural pool would be counterproductive to HCP designation. Our concern remains that the current legal protections would be erased for future public space should blasting occur. Legal research bears this out. - Public entities enioy absolute immunitv for iniuries caused by a natural condition on unimmoved Droperty, including streams and rivers. [Cal. Gov. Code w31.2 - 831.5 (West 1995)l. This immunity was extended in 1985 to private nonprofits incorporated as public land trusts to carry out programs that preserve open space and provide public access in agreement with public entities. [Id]. The City of Carlsbad, County of San Diego, State of California agencies and signatory "public land conservancies'' enjoy absolute immunity from liability so long as the pool at Box Canyon remains in its natural condition. The legislative policy for immunity states: "It is desirable to permit the members of the public to use public property in its natural condition and to provide trails . . .. The burden and expense of putting such property in a safe condition and the expense of defending claims would probably cause many public entities to close such areas to public use. In view of the limited funds available for acquisition and improvement of recreational property, it is not unreasonable to expect persons who voluntarily use unimproved public property in its natural condition to assume the risk of injuries arising therefrom as a part of the price to be paid for benefits received." [Id.]. Of course, this letter does not address our concern for the City as lead agency for CEQA compliance, but this is previously well documented. With these two legal burdens, it seems clear that alternatives to the blasting SUP pose the best outcome for the citizens of Carlsbad. rc 023. I City of Carlsbad Box Canyon SUP Page 2 Immunity from liability for injuries applies where the natural condition is not altered by human hands. Tessier v. Citv of Newport Beach, 219 Cal.App.3d 310, 314; 268 Cal.Rptr. 233 (1990). Before a public entity can lose this immunity, the statute requires some form of physical change in the condition of the property at the location of the injury. Bartlett v. State of California, 199 Cal.App.3d 392, 400; 245 Cal.Rptr. 327 (1988). The proposed reduction in depth of the pool from around 30 feet to 3 feet by filling the pool with rock blasted from the adjacent cliff will obliterate the natural condition status of the pool and void existing immunity from legal liability. P Jumping at Box Canyon would still be possible at many locations around the pool after blasting, including the newly blasted rock face. As a prospective jumper might have recently returned to an area previously familiar, enter at night, and forgo posted warnings, blasting would create a deadly hidden condition. A shallow pool filled with newly blasted jagged rocks constitutes a much graver danger even to passerby than existing pool conditions, increasing the both the frequency and severity of injury risk. Removing currently existing immunities by blasting makes no sense from either a legal or a public protection standpoint. As the Sierra Club, we speak also for the intrinsic value which our natural world created at Box Canyon. Its unique beauty is rare. - Immunity from legal liability, while more limited, also exists for private property owners, and no doubt is responsible for the complete absence of litigation over any past injuries incurred at Box Canyon. Continued immunity from litigation seems a cornerstone of transfer of the lands into the open space program. It is not in Carlsbad’s interest to increase liability by approving the special use permit for blasting nor place obstacles in the way of their stated objective regarding open space. Nor is it in the property owners interest to increase future owner’s liability. - We are currently in discussions with Mr. Arbuckle, representative of the land owner Bank of America. Our experts in trail management are working closely with the local high school students designing an alternative solution to satis@ management agencies and address the real issues at Box Canyon. To create a practical alternative design with natural barriers to abuse, the City of Carlsbad’s open space planners are integral to this planning effort. We have requested meetings with Mr. Don Rideout of your planning department (possibly March 23 or 24) to discuss appropriate barrier plantings and discover how overlook trails fit into to the contiguous open space in Carlsbad. Whether implementation of the student alternative goes forward is a question determined once the plan is complete. It is good government to utilize the volunteer skills and abilities of these local students to design a viable plan at no added expense to Carlsbad. Please support the youth of Carlsbad who want to be part of the solution by directing staff to discuss a natural solution. Thank you. Diego and Imperial Counties Lynne Baker, Parks & Open Space Chair 024 1 Q City of Carlsbad Box Canyon SUP Page 3 cc: - Fred Arbuckle, Morrow Development, P.O. Box 9000-685 Carlsbad 92018-9000 Mr. Ron Ball, City Attorney Mayor Bud Lewis Members of the City Council: Planning Commissioners: Parks & Recreation Commissioners: Don Rideout, Carlsbad Open Space Planner Derek Lansford, County of San Diego Planning Department HCP representative Janet Anderson, Sierra Club North County HCP representative Hall, Kulchin, Nygaard, Finnila Noble, Compas, Heineman, Monroy, Nielsen, Savary, Welshons, L'Heureux Baker, Cox, Cunningham, Daison, Pieratt, Richards, Schulberg 02s