The Montebello Hills

Howdy friends and neighbors of the hills!

This blog was created to keep you informed about the latest news affecting our beloved Montebello hills.

The Montebello Hills are located in the northeastern part of the City of Montebello, California.  This land is currently an operating oil field owned by Plains Exploration & Production (aka: PXP) based in Houston, Texas.  Cook Hill Properties LLC, a real estate development subsidiary of PXP,  has submitted to the City of Montebello a proposal to construct 1,200 housing units in the Montebello hills oil field.  The proposal is known as the Montebello Hills Specific Plan  or MHSP for short.

There are A LOT of reasons why folks in Montebello are against this housing project and I'll try to touch base on as many of these reasons as possible in future posts.  As of today, there are at least 3 groups in Montebello voicing their concerns about this project.

The Save the Montebello Hills Task Force, sponsored by the Sierra Club,  is made up of concerned residents in Montebello.  Their website is packed with useful information and "fact sheets" which explain more about this project and why it is such a bad idea;  Here is their address:

http://www.saveourmontebellohills.com/

The Save the Montebello Hills Task Force meets every first and third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the back room of the Coco's restaurant located at  2501 Via Campo, Monebello, CA 90640.  You don't have to be a member of the Sierra Club or a resident of Montebello to attend the meetings; all are welcome.

Another group speaking out against this project is the Alliance for a United Montebello.  Their web address is:

http://www.allianceforaunitedmontebello.com/Alliance/Home_Page.html

Click on "Alliance News" to access their position on the hills project.

The third group is made up of residents from the La Merced neighborhood of Montebello.  These folks literally live in the shadow of the hills.  Their web address is:

http://lamercedmontebello.com/

The good news is this project is not a "done deal!"  The project is slowly making it's way through the environmental review required by the California Environmental Quality Act.  The City of Montebello is in the process of hiring new legal representation for this project and the Final Environmental Impact Report is expected to be made public in the coming months.  There is still time to make your opinion known to the City of Montebello by speaking out at the city council meetings.  The next Montebello City Council meeting is scheduled for:

MONTEBELLO CITY COUNCIL MEETING
WEDNESDAY

FEBRUARY 9, 2011

5:30 P.M.

CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
1600 WEST BEVERLY BOULEVARD
MONTEBELLO, CALIFORNIA, 90640

If you wish to speak during the public oral time, be sure to arrive early and pick up a speaker's card at the entrance to the council chamber.  Fill out the card and hand it to anyone sitting behind the wooden banister at the front of the chamber before 5:30 P.M. [See clarification at the bottom of this post!]  During the public orals section of the meeting, the cards will be drawn in the order received and you will be given three minutes to speak your peace.  If you don't get a chance to speak during the 30 minutes allotted, you will have another chance at the end of the meeting.


You can also request to be placed on the notification list for the Montebello Hills Specific Plan.  Visit the City of Montebello's website, http://www.cityofmontebello.com , for more information.

For anybody ambitious enough to wade through the 6,000+ pages of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for this project you can find those documents at the City of Montebello's website.


If you ask me, these poor hills have suffered enough at the hands of man.  I think they should be restored to their original, wild splendor and returned to the critters of the fields. 

Dreaming of wildflowers and rugged canyons for all,

Daisy Mae

[The Montebello City Council Agenda is a bit confusing to read for anyone who hasn't been to one of these meetings.  The meeting has two parts - a "closed session" and an "open session."  The closed session usually begins a little after 5:30 and the open session doesn't start until the council returns.  The open session is scheduled to begin at 6:30 but sometimes it starts a little late depending on how much business has to be discussed in closed session.  My thanks to Lil Abner for reminding me to clear this up.  See comments that follow this post.]